gettyimages-660160026-612x612Photo Courtesy Of Getty Images

By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Home: Boston Bruins (19-12-4)

Away: Nashville Predators (22-12-2)

Milestone Watch

Patrice Bergeron enters this game just two goals away from 300 for his career.

Brad Marchand is five points shy of 500 for his career.

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Heinen

Nordstrom-Krejci-Pastrnak

Donato-Cave-Backes

Kuraly-Acciari-Wagner

Defense

Krug-Carlo

Grzelcyk-McAvoy

Moore-Kampfer

Goalies

Halak

Rask

Nashville’s Lineup

Forwards

Hartman-Johansen-Fiala

Gaudreau-Turris-Rinaldo

Salomaki-Bonino-Watson

Grimaldi-Jarnkrok-Smith

Defense

Josi-Ellis

Hamhuis-Ekholm

Irwin-Weber

Goalies

Rinne

Saros

First Period

Neither team had any great scoring chances in the early moments of the game but the B’s looked to be alert making a few good defensive plays in the neutral zone. Bergeron seemed to be right back in his element as he showed no ill effects from his 16 game absence. Jaroslav Halak made a couple good stops towards the middle part of the period as the Bruins continued to try to find their footing.

The B’s had no issues with possession in the first half of the period but struggled to parlay that into many shots on goal. A strong shift by Danton Heinen nearly broke the tie but Pekka Rinne made a flurry of saves on the young forward to keep it scoreless. Another outstanding shift by Boston put immense pressure on the Predators but they weren’t able to solve Rinne.

After another solid shift, Bergeron buried a shot in front after a nice feed from Charlie McAvoy to give the Bruins the lead.

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The Bruins really seemed to find their legs towards the end of the period as they tried to push for more.

Score: 1-0 Bruins

Second Period

The B’s picked up right where they left off in the beginning of the second period with a couple of good scoring opportunities. The Bruins seemed to get a little careless in their own zone in the early moments of the period but Halak kept the Predators at bay. The Bruins skating game continued to be a positive as they held a healthy advantage in the possession category.

After a mad scramble in front of the Nashville net, McAvoy appeared to double the Bruins lead. But a challenge for goaltender interference resulted in the play being overturned, keeping it a one goal game

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The no goal call seemed to galvanize the Predators as they pushed very hard to tie the game but Halak was up to the task. A great indirect pass from Craig Smith right to Ryan Johansen tied the game up as Johansen buried his sixth goal of the season past Halak.

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The game began to get a bit physical towards the end of the period as both teams started to be aggressive with the body. The Bruins went to the penalty kill with about two minutes left in the period as Matt Grzelcyk took a very questionable hooking penalty. Johansen then negated the power play with an interference penalty which resulted in a four on four. The Bruins picked up a five on three power play after Mattias Ekholm finished up high on David Pastrnak at the end of the period.

Score: Tied 1-1

Third Period

The Bruins moved the puck very effectively on the five on three but weren’t able to find the back of the net. The Bruins finally did find the back of the net as Bergeron buried his 300th career goal on the power play to give the B’s the lead once again.

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The Predators got their second power play of the game as Grzelcyk went off for slashing with under 15 minutes to go. The Bruins killed the penalty as the Predators failed to get any significant scoring chances. The Predators stormed the Boston end following the power play and they looked to tie the game again. Kyle Turris eventually tied it with a wrist shot that beat Halak to knot the game at two.

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The Bruins would return to the man advantage as Pastrnak drew a tripping penalty after a good shift by Boston with under nine minutes to play. 13 seconds into the power play Marchand fired home the go ahead goal after a perfect pass from Pastrnak to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

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Pastrnak doubled the lead after a ridiculous play by Bergeron in the defensive zone. Number 88 fired home a one timer off of a feed from Marchand.

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Nashville pulled the goaltender with about two minutes to go and Sean Kuraly promptly scored on the empty net to ice the game.

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Final Score: 5-2 Bruins

Three Stars Of The Game

Third Star: Marchand. The winger was really solid in the victory as he totaled a goal and two assists.

Second Star: Pastrnak. Playing with Krejci, Pasta was really impressive all game long and continued his great season with a goal and two helpers.

First Star: Bergeron. No doubt about this one. The star center returned after a long absence and made his presence felt with a three point game.

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—-> Boston Bruins 2018-19 Regular Season Schedule and Official SeatGiant Ticket Info <—