ne and be ready for rebounds.But Lidstrom believes Howard, who posted allowed 1.92 goals against with a .927 save percentage in the last five games, knows the challenge of playing against Rinne."He's going up against one of the best goalies in the league, and I think Howie should be up there as well," Lidstrom said. "It's going to be a great matchup."Howard was playing well enough this season he played in the All Star game. He also knows Rinne fairly well from their days in the American Hockey League, even though this will be their first matchup in the NHL postseason. Howard expects a tight series between teams that split the six games in the regular season and is looking forward to going up against Rinne."It's a game within a game," Howard said. "You can be playing two opposite games one guy can be getting a ton of action and the other guy can just be sitting down at the other end just watching - being a spectator. I doubt that's going to happen here in the playoffs. You've got to find a way to be better than the guy at the other end."Nashville lost the two previous playoff appearances against Detroit, going down in six games in both 2004 and 2008. The Red Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2008. But these Predators are much deeper with Weber and defenseman Ryan Suter in front of Weber with scoring up and down the roster.Not only do they have Rinne this time around, they also are a popular pick as the favorite to win this series. Rinne said they want to win enough nothing changes with additional pressure from the outside."I feel comfortable with it, and I think playing always against Detroit now we feel like we are on the same level," Rinne said. "And it's going to be a great series and just looking forward to it."---AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.
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