Boston Bruins
Talking Points: Boston Bruins Dominate Predators In Shutout Win
Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 5-0 win over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night.
GOLD STAR: Patrice Bergeron had a rough, rough night in the faceoff circle on Tuesday night, so it was a nice rebound performance for Bergeron to win 13-of-18 draws against Nashville. But he also snapped Boston’s power play drought with a goal in the second period that gave the Bruins a commanding 3-0 lead. Bergeron finished with a goal, two points, a plus-2 rating, two shots on net, six shot attempts, one takeaway and one blocked shot in a little more 14 minutes of ice time and did a great job of setting the tone early with a give-and-go play with Brad Marchand that netted the Black and Gold their first goal of the game.
Brad Marchand opens the scoring for the Bruins.
Marchand's brother, Jeff, loves it: pic.twitter.com/OXEpMjgvwm
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 17, 2023
BLACK EYE: A rough game for old friend Jeremy Lauzon, who finished a team-worst minus-3 for the Predators and had a Craig Smith backhander bounce off his stick and into the net for one of Boston’s first period goals. The 14:20 of ice time is pretty indicative of the kind of tough night that Lauzon had keeping the Bruins at bay in the Nashville defensive zone, whether it was the Brad Marchand 3-on-1 rush where he scored early, the deflected Smith shot or any of the first four Boston Bruins goals where Lauzon was on the ice when the puck went into Nashville’s net. There were plenty of Nashville skaters, however, who left something to be desired based on the dead catfish that Predators fans threw on the ice at the end of the second period with the Preds losing 4-0.
Someone threw a catfish on the ice mid-play in Nashville. 😳 pic.twitter.com/FBhiIpw9lC
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 17, 2023
TURNING POINT: After a first period where the Boston Bruins only led 1-0 despite outshooting the Predators by an 18-8 margin, it was a game that still could have gone either way. But the Bruins struck again shortly after the first minute of the second period to really give Nashville a gut punch in the second period as well. It was Craig Smith taking a Charlie McAvoy pass, rushing it up the wing and then throwing a backhander at the net that bounced around and deflected off Jeremy Lauzon’s stick to double up Boston’s lead.
HONORABLE MENTION: The honorable mention could go to a lot of different places (like Jeremy Swayman for his 29 saves and second shutout of the season), but let’s give it to Connor Clifton for being in the middle of things physically for the Predators. Clifton destroyed Ryan McDonagh with a big hit against the side boards in the middle of the game and got into it with a few other Predators players in the third period before smartly deciding not to drop the gloves in a game where the Bruins were kicking them around. Clifton finished with four hits and four blocked shots in 17:01 of ice time along with a shot on net and a whole lot of nastiness like this massive body check.
What. A. Hit. From Connor Clifton pic.twitter.com/S4nh2yBao8
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) February 17, 2023
BY THE NUMBERS: 11 – the number of career-high goals for Trent Frederic this season after potting one in the third period. The 20 points for Frederic is also a career high this year.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We wanted to build from the last game. It wasn’t perfect. I thought we could have been better in some areas, but it was a perfect road trip, so you have to be happy with that.” –Patrice Bergeron to NESN postgame after the win over the Predators.