Despite being without injured stars Marc Savard and Milan Lucic and using a lineup that looked more like the Providence Bruins, the Black and Gold managed a come-from-behind win over the Nashville Predators for their fourth win of the season.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the B's fought back with a pair of goals in the second. Boston, which committed just three penalties, got points from newcomers Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille, each playing in their first games with Claude Julien's club. Steve Begin, who had four assists in his first seven games with the club, notched his first goal when it counted most — with the score tied at two in the final frame.
Bruins 3, Predators 2
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
October 21, 2009
Headliner: Steve Begin picked up his first goal as a Bruin, and it couldn’t have come at a better time as he buried one in the third frame to give Boston the win. The center banged home a feed from new teammate Daniel Paille from the slot, beating Dan Ellis nearside with a quick snap shot to give Boston its first lead of the game. The goal made up for a previous mistake he made in the first period when he didn’t pick up his man, Jerred Smithson, as he trailed through the offensive zone unaccounted for. Smithson scored the game’s first goal.
Grinder: Patrice Bergeron tallied his third goal of the year to tie things up in the second and played very well on the B’s penalty kill, which went a perfect 3-for-3 against Nashville's man advantage.
Goalie Tim Thomas stopped 28-of-30 shots to even his record to 3-3 on the season. Thomas made 13 saves in the third and withstood a pair of late attacks. With under a minute to go, the Preds barraged Thomas with a six-man,
empty-net attack and nearly snuck past a rebound to tie things
up.
Former Boston University Terrier Colin Wilson flicked in a bouncing puck on the goal line for his first career NHL goal, putting the Preds up 2-1 in the second.
Weak Link: Nashville keeper Dan Ellis allowed a pair of second-period goals before allowing the eventual game-winner to slip by in the third. Ellis finished with 24 saves to fall to 2-2-1 on the season.
Neither team was able to bury a goal on the power play, with the Bruins going 0-for-2 and the Predators going 0-for-3.
Key Moment: After going two periods without a penalty, the Predators opened up the third frame with holding and hooking calls just a few minutes apart. Although the Bruins’ power play didn’t take advantage of the man-up, it did give the offense some much-needed momentum as they potted the eventual game-winner just a couple minutes later.
What's Next: The Bruins have no time to air out their gear as they pack their bags and head to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Thursday night.
Entering Wednesday night, the Flyers held a one-point lead over the Bruins in the Eastern Conference with a 3-2-1 record. After winning their first three games of the season, the Flyers came back down to earth and lost their last three, one an overtime defeat to the Anaheim Ducks. Last season, the B’s went 2-1-1 against the Flyers.
The usual suspects Jeff Carter and Mike Richards each have eight points while defenseman Matt Carle also has one goal and seven helpers to give the Flyers a three-way tie atop the points category.
Ray Emery has played in all six games between the pipes for the Broad Street Bullies, and has posted a 2.79 GAA with a shutout. The longtime Senators backstop has faced the B’s eight times in his career, posting a 4-3-0-1 record, allowing 21 goals for a 2.72 GAA.
Tim Thomas is 6-1-0-1 with a 2.47 GAA in eight career starts against the Flyers.
