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Boston Bruins

Win over Preds came with some bad news for Bruins

Author Ty Anderson
TORONTO, CANADA - MARCH 4: Justin Brazeau #55 of the Boston Bruins skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 4, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Justin Brazeau

Tuesday night in Nashville came with about as professional a win as the Bruins could have wanted against a surging Preds team.

But it also came with some bad news for the Bruins, who lost winger Justin Brazeau to an upper-body injury early, and without an encouraging update from the Bruins following the 3-0 victory.

“Upper-body, we’ll have more [info] in the coming days about length and stuff,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “But we really don’t have much besides that right now.”

With the Bruins for the last month and a half, Brazeau has been a late-season surprise (and a half), with five goals and seven points through 19 NHL appearances. Brazeau’s presence has been so notable that even talking about the big-bodied wing a few weeks ago, Montgomery noted that there’s only been one game where Brazeau didn’t live up to the expectations the team has for him. (For a coach to say that about a first-year pro is just unbelievably rare.)

In addition to his five goals and seven points, the 6-foot-5 Brazeau has racked up 43 hits and 12 blocked shots, and had received frequent in-game promotions up the Boston depth chart in recent outings.

The fact that the Bruins weren’t quick to label Brazeau as day to day alone is concerning, and Montgomery’s comments seem to confirm that there’s some sort of somewhat extended (by this time of year, anyway) timeline ahead of him.

If Brazeau is unavailable for any extended stretch, the focus could shift on the Bruins getting Pat Maroon up to game speed perhaps even quicker than originally anticipated (the Bruins had targeted Apr. 13 against Pittsburgh as the ‘best case scenario’ for Maroon). But if that is something the Bruins aren’t particularly interested in, the team can simply make both Jakub Lauko and James van Riemsdyk fixtures in their lineups and stop the in-and-out rotation they’ve had with both players of late.

3 Stars: Bruins keep it rolling in Nashville

As one would expect in a matchup between Juuse Saros and Linus Ullmark, goals were indeed at a premium in Tuesday’s showdown between the Bruins and Predators at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

But it was also a damn-near throwback to the NHL of yesteryear — and I’m talking long before the Predators were even a twinkle in the NHL’s eye — as the Bruins and Predators nearly went three full periods without a goal on the board.

It was the kind of tight-checking, zero-room-out-there game that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has consistently warned their club about becoming the new norm down the stretch and into the postseason. And for the Bruins, it was less than 12 minutes away from being the team’s first 0-0 game in nearly 15 years.

Yet, powered by three goals in the final 6:42 of regulation, the Bruins did what they had to ensure themselves of a victory, and escaped Nashville with two points.

  • With the victory over the Preds, and with Florida’s loss to the Canadiens, the Bruins have now moved four points ahead of the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division. That’s a potentially huge move, but could really come back to what happens for the rest of the week, as the Bruins will play the Hurricanes on Thursday while the Panthers play Ottawa ahead of a Saturday showdown between the Bruins and Panthers at TD Garden.

    Given the fact that the Panthers hold all the notable tiebreakers over the Bruins, the Bruins will by all means have to finish the season with more points than the Panthers to win the Atlantic Division.

    Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a victory over the Preds…

  • Third Star: David Pastrnak

    Apr 2, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) waits for a face off during the second period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

    Apr 2, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) waits for a face off during the second period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. (Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports)

    In what could be absolutely devastating news for narratives and lazy talking points, Bruins superstar David Pastrnak has put some forth some absolutely incredible 200-foot work of late.

    And Tuesday was just the latest step forward in that respect, as Pastrnak did the dirty work to help create Boston’s second goal and then stuck the dagger further into Nashville’s chest with the empty-net goal to give Boston a 3-0 victory.

    In addition to the on-ice results, the Bruins held a 10-5 on-ice edge in shots on goal with No. 88 out on the ice at five-on-five play, but were outshot 22-15 with Pastrnak on the bench.

    As we’ve discussed before, Pastrnak has really taken his game to another level since Jim Montgomery called out his team ahead of their flight to Florida. Always a great sign when your superstars (who have carried their weight all year) hear your message, respond, and follow that direction.

  • Second Star: Charlie Coyle

    Apr 2, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle (13) celebrates with left wing Brad Marchand (63) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) after a goal during the third period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

    Apr 2, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Bruins center Charlie Coyle (13) celebrates with left wing Brad Marchand (63) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) after a goal against the Predators at Bridgestone Arena. (Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports)

    Just like timely saves, timely goals matter just a bit more this time of year, and there’s no denying that Charlie Coyle scored one hell of a timely goal, as it was Coyle who broke through for the game’s first goal with a shorthanded strike.

    And on a night where Coyle lost 12 of his 20 battles at the dot, it was his defensive-zone faceoff game that remained strong, with wins in six of his 12 defensive-zone draws. Again, that matters.

  • More on the Bruins

    – Bruins add another center to the pipeline

    – PODCAST: The Sports Hub Underground with Matt Dolloff & Ty Anderson

    – Why last week’s win over the Panthers mattered more than most

  • First Star: Linus Ullmark

    Apr 2, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) makes a save during the third period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

    Apr 2, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) makes a save during the third period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. (Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports)

    Just an absolutely absurd game from Linus Ullmark.

    On the board with his second shutout of the season, Ullmark was by far the B’s best player in the winning effort, and had to be exactly that from start to finish in this one.

    The 31-save shutout put an end to what was a two-game losing streak for Ullmark, but continued what’s been a strong post-deadline run, with four wins and a .950 save percentage in six outings since he reportedly refused to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade out of Boston.

Ty Anderson is 98.5 The Sports Hub’s friendly neighborhood straight-edge kid. Ty has been covering the Bruins (and other Boston teams) since 2010, has been a member of the PHWA since 2013, and went left to right across your radio dial and joined The Sports Hub in 2018. Ty also writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to the Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox.

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