Playoff-style hockey agreed with the Bruins on Tuesday in Nashville.
Locked in a scoreless game late in the third period, the B’s got three late goals to beat the Predators, 3-0, on the strength of Linus Ullmark’s 32-save shutout.
The win allowed the B’s to open a four-point lead over the Florida Panthers for the Atlantic Division race.
Ullmark was excellent, but he didn’t steal the game. The B’s played a strong 200-foot game from start to finish and earned the win. There was little with which to quibble in this one.
“It was a great job,” Ullmark told NESN. “We battled all 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be a hard game. They came in with a lot of confidence but we really went to work.”
The back-and-forth competition to be the Game 1 starter for the playoffs continued. Last week Jeremy Swayman beat the Panthers and then was huge in overtime to beat the Capitals in a shootout. But since the trade deadline, Ullmark is 4-2 with a .950 save percentage.
“Every game is a new challenge,” said Ullmark. “It doesn’t matter what you did last game or the game prior. It’s all about looking forward and keep performing and focus on the process and not get too carried away with results-based thinking. It’s been working well lately in that department. I’ve got a lot of confidence with the fellas and we feed off each other.”
On Saturday in Washington, the B’s came up with a huge four-minute penalty kill to survive overtime and get it to the shootout. On Tuesday, the PK (4-for-4) actually broke the deadlock.
Charlie Coyle broke the scoreless tie with 6:42 left in regulation with a beauty of a shorthanded goal that started with the B’s most important player in the game. With Mason Lohrei in the box for hooking, Ullmark jumped on a loose puck behind the net and wrapped it up the glass for Brad Marchand to chase down. Marchand held the puck at the left point to draw a Nashville checker to him and then fed Coyle for the clean break-in. Coyle picked his spot over the Juuse Saros’ glove and beat the netminder for his 24th of the year.
Then, after playing some dogged defense in their own zone, the B’s got an insurance goal with 2:42 left. David Pastrnak bulled the puck out of the defensive zone, took it in deep and fed Danton Heine at the side of the net. Heinen in turn hit a wide open Pavel Zacha for an open net goal.
The Preds then pulled Saros, but there was no panic in the Bruins and Pastrnak ended it with an empty netter.
“What a great play by Brad Marchand, our captain. Great goal by Charlie. After that, I thought we played with a lot of poise. I thought we were real clean coming out of our own end. I liked our second and third effort and obviously I liked the way we put the game away,” said coach Jim Montgomery.
The first period was an entertaining, up-and-down 20 minutes of scoreless hockey in which the B’s outshot the Preds, 11-6. Despite he back-and-forth nature of the action, it was also a well-checked contest.
Both teams had one power play apiece and both teams had glittering chances to take the lead in the first. The B’s best one came on an excellent penalty kill when Charlie McAvoy stood up at the blue line and created a breakaway for himself. Juuse Saros made the blocker save on him, but the breakaway would be a harbinger of things to come. Pastrnak also landed four shots on net in the first (seven in the game).
Ullmark also had to make a couple of big saves of his own. The first one was a nice skate on Luke Evangelista, who cut through the slot to get a good shooting angle. An even better stop came later in the period when Gus Nyquist connected with Ryan O’Reilly for a one-touch shot from the low slot that Ullmark kicked out.
The B’s suffered a big loss late in the period when Justin Brazeau had to leave the game when he was caught in an open ice hit by Luke Schenn, for which the Nashville defenseman was called for roughing. Brazeau, who’d been a revelation as a big puck-protecting winger with some scoring touch since being called up from Providence, left the ice holding his right arm close to his body and immediately went to the dressing room. There was no immediate word on his prognosis, but he did not return.
The game remained scoreless through two periods – miraculously so, from a Bruins perspective.
The Preds were given a power play at 14:19 when Jake DeBrusk nudged Kiefer Sherwood on a puck pursuit and was called for interference.
The B’s did a solid job of penalty killing again until late in the man advantage when it looked like Nashville had the sure 1-0 lead. As Ullmark got tangled up with Hampus Lindholm and a Predator at the right side of the net, Evangelista hit Norris Trophy candidate Roman Josi with a pass at the inside of the left circle and, with a wide open net staring at him, the Nashville captain clanged the near post.
Nashville put the B’s back on the power play at 17:22 when Cole Smith high-sticked Kevin Shattenkirk, but the B’s did nothing with the opportunity and the game went to the third deadlocked at 0-0.
The Preds (16-2-2 in their previous 20) seemingly had some semblance of momentum after outshooting the B’s, 12-6, in the second period. But, on this night, the Bruins made the plays down the stretch for the hard-earned win.
