Rinne becomes winningest Finnish goalie in NHL history

Pekka Rinne's latest victory was one for the record books.

The reigning Vezina Trophy winner backstopped the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 triumph over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, capturing his 320th career win to move past Miikka Kiprusoff for the most all time by a Finnish-born goaltender.

Rinne accomplished the feat in 43 fewer games than Kiprusoff, who retired following the 2012-13 season.

Here's the leaderboard as far as netminders from Finland are concerned:

Goaltender W GP
Rinne 320 580
Kiprusoff 319 623
Kari Lehtonen 301 649
Tuukka Rask 242 458
Antti Niemi 238 453
Niklas Backstrom 196 413
Vesa Toskala 129 266
Antero Niittymaki 95 234
Antti Raanta 73 150
Karri Ramo 60 159

Rinne reminisced about Kiprusoff when asked about the achievement postgame.

"He was kind of the first Finnish superstar goalie," Rinne told reporters including The Athletic's John Glennon. "It was nice to play against him, especially when I was younger. I especially tried to watch him play and things like that. So for sure, it's cool.”

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