Bruins Stop the Predators Win Streak With a 5-3 Victory

The Nashville Predators traveled to TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins in their final meeting of the year. The Predators captured a 3-2 shootout win in their first meeting in Nashville.

Pekka Rinne got a rest and Carter Hutton got his fourth start of the season for the Predators, while the Bruins had Tuukka Rask in net. Hutton was looking for his first win of the season.

The Predators came into the contest having gone 7-3 in their last 10 games and winning three straight. The Bruins are 3-5-2 in their last ten games.

The Predators were looking for a fast start to take the home crowd out of the game.

They didn't get it

Brad Marchand roofed a shot from the slot over the shoulder of Hutton to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period.

But this is the Predators and they answered back at 7:35 of the first as Colin Wilson took a pass from James Neal and put a backhand top shelf to tie the game at 1.

David Krejci blew a puck past Hutton from the face off circle on the power play to make it 2-1 at 9:35 of the first period.

Calle Jarnkrok stole the puck from Gregory Campbell at the Bruins blue line and whipped a puck through the legs of Dennis Seidenberg and past Rask to tie the game at 2 at 11:31 of the first.

A back and forth first period that saw both teams play to a draw degenerated into a second period controlled by the Bruins

The Bruins took a 3-2 lead at 5:52 of the second as Loui Eriksson took a pass and was all alone at the side of the net and roofed a shot over Hutton, who had no chance on the play.

Brad Marchand scored his second goal off a pass that was deflected across the slot and he had a wide open net into which to shoot the puck. His goal came at 10:51 of the second period.

The third period opened with the Predators on the power play, and as usual, they di nothing with the man advantage.

The Predators did not help their cause as the power play ended and James Neal took a penalty for slashing and an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Predators did a good job on the penalty kill and were able to snuff out the Bruins scoring chances and managed two shorthanded shots on goal.

The Predators got to within one goal as Taylor Beck beat Rask over the shoulder at 6:48 of the third period.

That was all the Predators could muster and Loui Eriksson sealed the win with an empty net goal with 33 seconds remaining for a 5-3 win.


Some observations:

• Craig Smith remained on the top line with Mike Ribeiro and Filip Forsberg. Smith has shown a lot of jump in his game while on that line and has tallied three goals in two contests on the top line.
• Goodness, I like the play of Colin Wilson this season. he is playing smart hockey and taking the puck to the net. he is using his physical skills to create scoring chances and more importantly, he is finishing those chances this season. He just looks more confident on the ice and is playing his best hockey since he has been in the League.
• Mattias Ekholm assisted on the first two Predator goals and has been playing some solid hockey of late. His defensive game is sound and he has shown some offensive flair. He has settled in with Ryan Ellis to form a solid second D pairing.
• The Predators offense did not have a lot of jump. Just 10 shots on goal through two periods, and the Bruins did a great job of forechecking and disrupting their offensive flow. I know they played the night before and may have been a bit leg weary, but the Predators are going to have several back to backs after the Christmas break and they are going to have to play through that fatigue.
• I like Carter Hutton, but he just doesn't look confident in net. His play all night was scrambly, and he was almost caught out of position a couple of times. I know he didn't have a chance on two of the Bruins goals, but he has to make some stops when the team needs them. The fact is that Hutton is going to have to get some wins for this team.
• James Neal lost control in the third period. Not only did he take a selfish unsportsmanlike conduct penalty but he also got tagged with a 10 minute misconduct that effectively eliminated his services in the third period. He cannot commit those kinds of out of control plays and be a leader that this team needs. Neal had 14 of the 18 penalty minutes the Predators collected in the game.
• The Bruins have a good young defenseman in Dougie Hamilton. I really like the way he plays the game. He is smart and physical and will be a fixture on the blue line for the Bruins for a long time.
• Taylor Beck and Calle Jarnkrok continue to play some solid hockey. They are both strong on the puck and play full tilt when they are on the ice. It's fun to watch these young players grow in their roles.
• The Predators power play is just horrid. That unit looks disorganized and just doesn't have any flow once they get in the zone. I know that I continually harp on this, but it is apparent that this unit has not come close to developing any chemistry, and that is going to be a problem for this team.
• As flat as the Predators were in the first two periods and especially in the second, they were dominant in the third. They controlled the puck for long stretches in the offensive zone and created some great scoring chances with their speed and puck possession. Unfortunately, they waited until the third period to begin playing this way.
• The Predators were a woeful 24 of 64 in the faceoff circle.

The Predators certainly didn't have their best game, but they did show some fight, especially in the third period.

Now they get some much needed time off for the holidays.

Time to get back to their winning ways on Saturday against the Flyers.

My three stars:

1. Brad Marchand

2.Patrice Bergeron

3. Calle Jarnkrok

Bruins Outlast the Predators in OT 3-2

The Nashville Predators traveled to TD Garden looking to have a better showing against the Boston Bruins than their first meeting, a 6-2 Bruins win in Nashville on December 23rd.

The Bruins had rookie Niklas Svedberg in net, making his first NHL start, while the Predators went with Marek Mazanec.

With a rookie making his first start, the mission for the Predators was to get pucks on net and challenge Svedberg.

A scoreless first period saw the Predators get 8 shots on net, while the Bruins had 11. Mazanec made some good saves, especially on a Bruins power play to keep the game scoreless. The best Bruins save came not from Svedberg, but from Matt Bartkowski as the defenseman sprawled across an open net and used his helmet to block a shot from Matt Hendricks.

The Predators had some great scoring chances in the second period, but a combination of good saves by Svedberg and the inability to finish kept the Predators off the board.

That changed at 18:04 of the period as the Bruins got caught in a bad change. Mike Fisher carried the puck into the zone and fired a shot that Svedberg kicked out to the tape of Viktor Stalberg. Stalberg buried the shot into the open net to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.

The second period ended with the Predators on the penalty kill, which would carry over into the third period for 1:48.

As for that imperative to get shots on Svedberg...

The Predators had 16 shots in the second period to 3 for the Bruins.

The Bruins tied the game a 4:55 of the third period as Johnny Boychuk was left alone in the high slot and he blew a shot past Mazanec. The third period opened with the Bruins putting pressure on the Predators, and their jump and effort paid off with the tying goal.

That goal energized the Bruins and the Predators were back on their heels. The dominance and momentum of the Predators in the second period was now securely on the side of the Bruins and the Predators were going to have to step up and wrest it back.

The Bruins took a 2-1 lead at 12:29 as Jerome Iginla beat roman Josi driving to the net. he took a pass off the boards from Milam Lucic and tapped it past Mazanec. Iginla got inside of Josi and just overpowered him on the drive to the net.

The Predators responded at 14:35 as Svedberg gave up a long rebound of a Mike Fisher shot. The puck came to Shea Weber and he hammered a shot through traffic that beat Svedberg between his arm and his body to tie the game at 2.

In the remaining time, both teams created some scoring opportunities, but could not find the back of the net.

The Bruins won the game just 54  seconds into overtime as Brad Marchand beat a screened Mazanec from just outside the face off circle.

Some observations:

• The second period was a solid period of hockey for the Predators, one of the best they have played this season. They out skated the Bruins, won puck battles, and got the puck to the net to challenge Svedberg.

• As good as the second period was, the Predators were back on their heels for most of the third period. The talented Bruins had more jump and won the puck battles for most of the period.
• It was good to see the Predators respond, however. The Garden was rocking and the Bruins had all the momentum. Tying the game with just over 5 minutes to go gave the Predators life and they started skating, winning puck battles, and attacking the net.

• The Predators had 35 shots on net for the game including 16 in the second period. Their old nemesis- not finishing their chances- came back to bite the Preds in this game.

• Mazanec made some good saves and looked poised in the face of the pressure from the Bruins. while neither he nor Carter Hutton have firmly established themselves as the starter, Mazanec seems to have an edge.

• This was a much better effort by the Predators than their last outing against the Bruins, where they stunk it up and did not compete.

This team has shown that they can compete and win against some of the best teams in the NHL. They need to consistently apply that effort every night.

My three stars:

1. Brad Marchand

2. Shea Weber

3. Mike Fisher