The Boston Bruins ended the Nashville Predators’ four-game win streak and picked up a much-needed two points with a 4-1 victory Tuesday night at TD Garden.
The win improves Boston’s position in the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and helps it keep pace with the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.
The Bruins improve to 40-30-6 with the win, while the Preds drop to 39-26-11.
Here’s how it all went down.
CAN’T HOLD ME DOWN
David Krejci (upper body) and Tuukka Rask (lower body) both played despite recently dealing with injuries. Krejci has yet to miss a game this season.
QUICK START
Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring for the B’s with a goal at 2:28 of the first period. The Bruins center crashed the net and buried a rebound off a Zdeno Chara shot for his 18th goal of the season.
MILESTONE REACHED
Chara, the B’s captain and top defenseman, picked up an assist on Bergeron’s goal for the 600th point of his career.
CALL ME KREJCI
David Pastrnak and Krejci showed off their impressive chemistry on the Bruins’ second goal. Pastrnak made a sweet pass to Krejci entering the attacking zone to complete a give-and-go that ended with the B’s center scoring his 22nd goal of the campaign. Drew Stafford also picked up an assist on the goal, which was tallied at 13:52 of the first period.
PASTA-WOW
Pastrnak didn’t score on this play, but it’s worth a look for the pure skill alone.
FIRST!
Bruins forward Noel Acciari scored his first NHL goal at 15:57 of the third period. It was an important one, too, as it gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead less than four minutes after Predators forward Craig Smith cut Boston’s lead in half with a goal of his own. Riley Nash picked up the assist on Acciari’s goal, giving him a three-game point streak (five total points in that span).
SEAL THE DEAL
David Backes scored his 17th goal of the season, this one of the empty-net variety late in the third period, to clinch the win for the B’s.
TALL IN NET
Rask, who received unwarranted criticism in recent days from local sports radio hosts, stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to pick up his 34th win of the season. The only goal he allowed came on a redirect at the edge of the crease.
UP NEXT
The Bruins host Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at TD Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
