BOSTON — The Bruins took the maximum of four points from their last two games before the holiday break and have plenty of positives to build on when they resume action Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Here are five takeaways from the Bruins’ 5-3 victory over the Predators on Tuesday night.
1. Bruins Score on Power Play, Unit Looks Good Overall
David Krejci scored a power-play goal in the first period to give Boston back-to-back games with PP goals for just the third time this season.
The Bruins entered the game with two power-play goals in 19 opportunities in December, which had dropped them to the bottom third of the league with a success rate below 17 percent. The B’s also have earned the fewest power plays in the league, but they got four against a Predators team that’s been shorthanded a league-low 89 times.
The Bruins tallied 16 shot attempts (seven on goal) on the power play and opened up shooting lanes with quick/accurate passes, good movement away from the puck and using the man in the high slot. Zdeno Chara created plenty of traffic in front of the net and his screen prevented Predators goalie Carter Hutton from saving Krejci’s shot from the left point.
Krejci and Chara’s return to the lineup should help Boston’s power play develop some consistency and aid an offense that has struggled to score, especially during 5-on-5 play.
“Well I think the puck movement has been good and guys have been winning races to loose pucks, and that’s huge,” Marchand said of the team’s power play.
2. Loui Eriksson is Playing His Best Hockey as a Bruin
Eriksson scored at 5:53 of the second period on one of Boston’s most well-executed plays of the season and then added an empty-net tally late in regulation for his first multi-goal game of the season.
Eriksson is playing like the highly skilled, two-way player the Bruins imagined he would be when they acquired him in the Tyler Seguin trade. Two concussions prevented him from establishing any consistency in his game last season, but with good health and a full season in the B’s system, the veteran winger is excelling at both ends of the ice this campaign. Eriksson has scored six goals in his last eight games and Boston is controlling 54.67 percent of even-strength shot attempts when he’s on the ice, which is the fourth-best mark among B’s forwards.
“The puck is coming to me right now. I’m finding ways to score goals and it’s just a nice feeling when you get there,” Eriksson said. “That’s how I was when I played in Dallas, you just kept going and the goals were coming. Hopefully, I can continue like that. I’m feeling good right now, so hopefully it will continue.”
3. Tuukka Rask Not At His Best
Rask has given his team a chance to win many games over the last month while the offense has struggled to score more than two goals each night. The opposite was true Tuesday night, with Rask allowing a soft goal to Calle Jarnkrok in the second period and failing to stop a shot from Taylor Beck in the third period that a Vezina Trophy-caliber goaltender is expected to save.
Rask finished with 22 saves on 25 shots (18-for-21 at even strength) for a .880 save percentage.
“I saw it. It was just a weak goal,” Rask said of Jarnkrok’s goal. “Weak, weak goal, but luckily it didn’t cost us today. I always want to play a perfect game and today definitely wasn’t a perfect game, but there’s been times where I’ve played really good and we’ve lost 2-1, 3-2. Today, I wasn’t at my best, but the guys bailed me out and played a heck of a game.”
4. Bruins Survive Difficult Third Period
The Predators didn’t give up Tuesday night and were unlucky not to tie the game in the third period when they earned a 24-19 shot attempt edge and a 15-10 shots on goal advantage.
Nashville dominated possession on many shifts (including one highlighted by 1:06 of offensive zone time and five shot attempts) and spent lots of time in the attacking zone over the final 10 minutes. This kind of push was to be expected because the Predators rank among the top puck-possession teams with a 52.9 Corsi-for percentage and were trailing by two at the start of the final period.
That said, the Bruins cannot afford to give up that many shot attempts in the final 20 minutes and expect to consistently win in regulation.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
