Pekka Rinne unable to pinpoint reason for poor play

The Nashville Predators are hoping that Pekka Rinne can figure it out, and fast.

The veteran goalie was expected to backstop a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, but instead is in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his career. Meanwhile, the Predators have fallen out of a playoff spot, and are now one point behind the Colorado Avalanche.

So, what's going on with Rinne?

"I don't know," he told Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. "Obviously it would be probably easier to fix too if it were based on one thing. Obviously, overall play is one thing, consistency is one thing. But at the same time, it goes also hand in hand with the team play. As a team and for me personally, haven't been able to kind of find that really high level of play consistently and I think that's been missing."

Nashville's offense has been decent this season, averaging a 16th-ranked 2.53 goals per game. The addition of Ryan Johansen is expected to help spur that on even further. The Predators are, however, allowing 2.71 goals per game, up from 2.46 last season.

Rinne's play has contributed greatly to that disparity.

Unhindered by health concerns, Rinne is confident he'll return to form sooner than later.

"It's one of those things where you try to just trust the work you're doing and try to focus on things you can control," he said. "It's been frustrating. I can't lie. But I obviously expect a lot from myself and it is tough when you feel like there's room for you to improve and play better and help your team.

"It's been at times pretty frustrating, but the best part is that there's plenty of games ahead of us. Physically, I feel really good, I feel healthy and 100 percent. I'm just really happy that we're still in this position and there's a lot of room to improve."

Rinne watched from the bench as Carter Hutton posted a shutout against Minnesota on Jan. 16. He could get his next chance to turn things around as early as Tuesday against Chicago.