Patrice Bergeron is back and he made sure the Nashville Predators were aware of it.
The Boston Bruins center was sidelined for the last 16 games with a rib/sternoclavicular injury and scored two goals in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over Nashville at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon.
In addition to Bergeron’s four total points, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak both tallied three points on the afternoon as Boston extended its win streak to three games. Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 of 30 shots as the Bruins improved to 20-12-4, while the Predators slipped to 22-13-2.
Here’s how it all went down:
BERGERON IS BACK
Bergeron immediately made his presence known when he scored the game’s first goal.
Charlie McAvoy passed the puck off in the slot to the Bergeron, who faked out Preds goalie Pekka Rinne with a backhand-to-forehand shot to put the B’s up 1-0.
MCAVOY (ALMOST) DOUBLES LEAD
It appeared McAvoy gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the second, but Nashville called for a challenge for goaltender interference after Rinne was down for about five seconds during the play.Â
A battle in front of Rinne ended with McAvoy firing the puck high and into the net. After officials reviewed the play, they determined David Backes interfered with the Preds goalie, despite Rinne having plenty of time to get up from his stomach.
PREDS EVEN IT
Ryan Johansen tied the game for Nashville at the 13:01 mark of the middle period when he took a pass off the wall and beat Halak short side to even things at 1-1.
Tensions got high at the end of the second and the B’s benefited from it in after Mattias Eckholm was called for roughing as time expired, giving Boston a 5-on-3 to begin the final 20 minutes.
MISTER 300
After Boston rang the post a number of times on the 5-on-3, Bergeron, once again, made the difference when he picked up the loose puck and put it past Rinne for his second goal of the game and the 300th of his career.
TURRIS BEATS HALAK
Kyle Turris played spoiler to the Bruins’ lead when he beat Halak with a snipe through traffic from the top of the left circle to even things at two halfway through the third period.
BERGERON TO PASTRNAK TO MARCHAND
Bergeron continued to deliver when he notched his third point of the game with an assist on Marchand’s tie-breaking goal just two minutes after Turris knotted the game.
Boston capitalized yet again on the power play after some nice puck movement that ended with Marchand sniping one past Rinne for a 3-2 edge.
PASTA MAKES IT FOUR
Marchand returned the favor to his linemate when he fed a pass to Pastrnak, who one-timed the puck past Rinne to double Boston’s lead late in the third.
This Bruins Wrap is brought to you by Plainridge Park Casino.
