FINAL, Bruins Win 5-3
Third Period, 18:15, 4-3 Boston: Loui Eriksson scores on the empty net to seal another win for the Bruins. It’s his second goal of the game.
Third Period, 18:15, 4-3 Boston: Nashville has taken its timeout with a faceoff in the defensive zone coming up.
Third Period, 18:00, 4-3 Boston: A Bruins turnover gives Matt Cullen a free shot from the slot but it sails wide of the net and into the corner.
Third Period, 17:00, 4-3 Boston: Tuukka Rask makes a save on a shot from the left faceoff circle, loses sight of the puck, then sprawls on all fours to cover it up.
Third Period, 14:23, 4-3 Boston: Nashville just spent 1:06 in the attacking zone and attempted at least five or six shots on net. The Bruins blocked a few of them before clearing the zone. The Predators are making a strong push to tie the game.
Third Period, 8:37, 4-3 Boston: Dougie Hamilton and Mike Ribeiro take a few jabs at each other in a post-whistle scrum along the end boards. Neither player is penalized.
Third Period, 6:28, 4-3 Boston: James Neal was given a 10-minute misconduct, bringing his PIM total in this period to 14. Taylor Beck scored for Nashville to trim the deficit to one. It’s his fourth goal of the season.
Third Period, 6:02, 4-2 Boston: Neal’s penalties have expired and we’re back to even strength. Four shots on goal for the Bruins during that 4-minute power play.
Third Period, 2:02, 4-2 Boston: James Neal has received four penalty minutes, two for slashing Loui Eriksson and two more for unsportsmanlike conduct. Boston is 1-for-2 on the power play tonight.
Third Period, 1:52, 4-2 Boston: The penalty is over and we’re back to 5-on-5.
Third Period, 0:01, 4-2 Boston: Play has resumed, and there’s still 1:52 remaining on Brad Marchand’s penalty from the end of the second period.
Second Period, 4-2 Boston
Second Period, 19:52, 4-2 Boston: A questionable penalty call on Brad Marchand in the defensive zone ends a 2-on-1 scoring chance for the Bruins. They now are shorthanded. Nashville is 0-for-1 on the power play tonight.
Second Period, 12:08, 4-2 Boston: The Bruins have taken their timeout.
Second Period, 10:51, 4-2 Boston: A shot from the point deflected off a player in front of the net and the puck bounced to Brad Marchand, who scored his second goal of the game. He also becomes the first Bruins player to score 10 goals this season.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
Second Period, 5:53, 3-2 Boston: The Bruins have the lead again. Loui Eriksson scored his eighth goal of the season, which was set up by a beautiful pass from Matt Bartkowski. Chris Kelly also earned an assist, giving him a career-high five-game point streak.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
Second Period, 4:23, 2-2: The Bruins have killed the penalty and we’re back to even strength.
Second Period, 2:23, 2-2: The Bruins will be shorthanded for the first time tonight as Carl Soderberg is whistled for holding.
Second Period, 0:01, 2-2: Play has resumed.
End of First Period, 2-2
SOG: 10-7 Boston
Faceoffs: 15-6 Boston
Power Plays: BOS 1-for-2, NSH 0-for-0
Scoring Summary via NHL.com:
First Period, 15:00, 2-2 Boston: The Bruins have a 19-8 shot attempt edge and are 14-for-19 in the faceoff circle.
First Period, 11:31, 2-2 Boston: For the second time tonight, Nashville ties the score soon after giving up the lead. Calle Jarnkrok scored on Tuukka Rask with a shot that the Bruins goaltender should have saved.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
First Period, 9:43, 2-1 Boston: The Bruins have regained the lead with a power-play goal from David Krejci. His shot from the point beat Carter Hutton glove side. He was screened by Bruins D-man Zdeno Chara.
First Period, 8:27, 1-1: Seth Jones is whistled for slashing and Boston will return to the power play. The B’s are 0-for-1 with the man advantage tonight.
First Period, 7:35, 1-1: It didn’t take long for Nashville to equalize. James Neal entered the attacking zone and made a pass to Colin Wilson, who beat Tuukka Rask with a good backhand shot. It’s Wilson’s eighth goal of the campaign.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
First Period, 5:43, 1-0 Boston: The penalty is over and we’re back to even strength. Seconds after the power play expired, Torey Krug hit the post on a shot from the point.
First Period, 3:43, 1-0 Boston: Olli Jokinen is whistled for hooking and the Bruins will get their first power play of the night.
First Period, 2:01, 1-0 Boston: The Bruins have taken an early lead. The Marchand-Bergeron-Smith line spent at least 30 seconds in the attacking zone and maintained puck possession with quick passes and a strong cycle game. After keeping the puck in the zone with a takeaway, Bergeron fed Marchand for a great scoring chance, which the left winger capitalized on. It’s his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
First Period, 0:01, 0-0: We’re underway!
7:00 pm: Wilson-Fisher-Cullen, Weber-Josi and Hutton start for Predators. Lucic-Krejci-Cunningham, Krug-Miller and Rask start for Bruins.
Defenseman Zach Trotman and forward Seth Griffith are the healthy scratches for Boston.
6:50 pm: NESN’s Jack Edwards gives us a look at the Predators lineup.
[tweet https://twitter.com/RealJackEdwards/status/547539350767292416 align=”center”]
6:40 pm: Bruins lines and pairings during pre-game rushes.
Lucic-Krejci-Cunningham
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Kelly-Soderberg-Eriksson
Paille-Campbell-Fraser
Chara-Hamilton
Bartkowski-Seidenberg
Krug-Miller
6:30 pm: Tuukka Rask (Boston) and Carter Hutton (Nashville) lead their teams onto the ice for warmups and will start in net.
6:10 pm: BOSTON — The Boston Bruins will aim to improve their record against the Western Conference on Tuesday night when they host the Nashville Predators at TD Garden.
The Bruins are 3-5-2 in December and need to close the month with a few wins to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
“I think we got to string some wins together here, there’s no doubt,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said Tuesday morning. “This is a (Nashville) team that’s playing its second game in two nights here, their second time this year, so I don’t know how they are on those obviously because they haven’t played that many of them.
“They’re a good team, they’ve had a good start to the season. We were there last time, played a really good game, but just were able to manage that one point. It’s important for us, just looking at the standings, we’re in the fight here for playoff position so we have to look at it that way.”
Tuukka Rask likely will start in net for the Bruins. He tied a season high with 38 saves when the Bruins lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Predators on Dec. 16.
The Bruins should catch a break with Carter Hutton expected to be in net for Nashville. Predators starter Pekka Rinne leads NHL goaltenders in wins, save percentage and goals against average, but he will get a rest Tuesday night after playing 13 consecutive games.
Stay tuned to NESN.com’s Bruins-Predators live blog for score updates, injury news and highlights.
