BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Nick Rimando relished the opportunity to be a hero Saturday night in Chicago.

He knows shootouts are nerve-wracking moments for all involved, but he's proven throughout his 10-year career to be very good at stopping penalty kicks. That includes previous heroics in the playoffs.

Back in the 2004 Eastern Conference championship, Rimando made two saves in a shootout for D.C. United as it knocked off New England to advance to MLS Cup.

Against Chicago on Saturday he made three saves as Real Salt Lake prevailed in the shootout, 5-4.

"He's been great for us all year down the stretch," said Will Johnson. "We knew he'd make saves for us and it was just a matter of us making penalties and overall we did a good job."

In Rimando's career prior to Saturday night he'd stopped 13 of 42 penalty kicks including a dramatic save of Jeff Cunningham during a critical victory over FC Dallas earlier this year.

He was simply in a zone against the Fire in the shootout.

Of the seven penalty kicks he faced Rimando guessed correctly on the direction of the shot on six, with all three saves coming while diving to his left.

His first save came against John Thorrington in the fourth round, and then he saved attempts by Logan Pause and Brandon Prideaux on Chicago's final two attempts.

"Once you get a rhythm you get a rhythm, luck was on our side tonight," said Rimando. "Last year we were unlucky hitting the post so much and this year I guess we had luck on our side with some of those PKs."

"It's the worst way to lose, but it's kind of fun to win in PKs when you're the hero," said Rimando.

Watching the shootout unfold as a spectator from midfield, Chris Wingert couldn't help but think back to 2004. He was a rookie on the Columbus Crew that year and his team went down to the hands of Rimando and D.C. United in the first round.

In the next round, he remembers watching Nick Rimando dominate in the shootout against New England by making two saves as D.C. United advanced 4-3 on penalty kicks.

That's why Wingert wasn't worried even after Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola both missed their penalty kicks.

"I went up to Javier and Faby and said don't worry about it, Nick's got us, and Nick told them the same thing and he did more than just talk, he stepped up," said Wingert.

In regulation Rimando made six saves, with his best stop coming on a diving save in the 64th minute on a powerful shot by Marco Pappa.

Rimando has enjoyed one of his best seasons ever this year by finishing with nine shutouts, and now he's added two more in the playoffs.

e-mail: jedward@desnews.com