Bruins blanked by Predators in Nashville
A road trip that kicked off with a bang in Colorado ended on a sour note Tuesday night in Nashville, as the Bruins were blanked by Juuse Saros in a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the previously-winless Predators.
The loss, headlined by 33 saves from Saros, marked Boston’s second straight defeat and dropped them to 3-3-1 on the year, and actually (and somehow) saw an offensive step back from the Bruins after the club scored just one goal in last Saturday’s overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club.
Down in an 0-1 hole through 20 minutes of play, the Bruins came out firing to begin the middle frame with six straight shots in the opening 5:30 of play.
But just when it appeared that the Bruins were building momentum in their favor, penalties once again derailed things for the Bruins, with almost back-to-back penalties against Nikita Zadorov (two for hooking, marking it seven straight games with a penalty for Zadorov) and a double-minor assessed to Charlie McAvoy after he clipped Steven Stamkos up high.
And just as the Bruins killed off the four-minute penalty, and with some big-time plays along the way, the seas seemingly parted for the Preds’ Tommy Novak to double Nashville’s lead in back-breaking fashion.
Still alive despite the two-goal hole through 40 minutes, the Bruins came out buzzing on an early-period power-play opportunity in the third period. But the chances failed to lead to anything tangible on the board, with Boston’s best look coming on a crossbar clanger from Hampus Lindholm.
The Lindholm look would ultimately be as close as the Bruins got to making this a game, though, as the Predators dropped another two goals on the Bruins on their way to victory.
In goal, Jeremy Swayman turned aside 38 of 41 shots faced in a losing effort.
The Bruins also went with a new-look second line that slotted Max Jones to the left of Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. And it honestly went about as bad as it could’ve out of the gate, as Coyle had a brutal defensive-zone giveaway right to the slot while Jones was assessed two penalties in the opening period and has now been whistled for four penalties in 30 minutes through three games with the Bruins.
Elsewhere on the roster, the Bruins put Brad Marchand to the left of Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak on the Black and Gold’s top line, while Pavel Zacha skated with Matt Poitras and Morgan Geekie.
The Bruins will return to Boston for a Thursday night head-to-head with the Stars.
3 Stars: Struggling Saros wins goalie battle over Bruins' Swayman
Third Star: Ryan O’Reilly
Oct 22, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly (90) celebrates his goal with his teammates against the Boston Bruins during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
The Bruins are more than familiar with the details that Ryan O’Reilly brings to the rink. Painfully so, actually.
And those details, even with O’Reilly in a different shade of blue and yellow these days, came to the table Tuesday night, with O’Reilly on the board with a goal and an assist in the winning effort.
On Nashville’s first goal, O’Reilly did a great job with a moving screen and tip through Jeremy Swayman off a Roman Josi shot. That goal was a real gut punch for the Bruins in the sense that they were just 2:44 away from escaping the period deadlocked at 0-0 when their play probably should’ve put them down by more.
His primary helper on Gustav Nyquist’s third-period dagger, meanwhile, saw O’Reilly come through with some tremendous wall timing in what was a 50-50 battle with Nikita Zadorov and then an excellent chip through Elias Lindholm to help spring Nyquist for a 2-on-1 he ultimately buried through Swayman.
Veteran savvy kind of stuff there.
Second Star: Jeremy Swayman
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – OCTOBER 19: Jeremy Swayman #1 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the first period of a game against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on October 19, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
If you missed this game because you were busy watching the Celtics bludgeon the Knicks to death with three-point makes and simply looked at the box score of this contest, lemme tell ‘ya that believe it or not, this game would’ve been a lot worse than the 4-0 final had it not been for Jeremy Swayman.
In fact, there were times where it felt like it was truly Swayman vs. everyone out there with some of the turnovers the Bruins committed in their own zone, with especially glaring defensive-zone giveaways from Charlie Coyle in the first period and Mason Lohrei in the third. Both turnovers put the puck on a Predator stick right in the slot. YIKES!
But Swayman continued to keep the Bruins ‘in it’ up until Nyquist’s change-up shot through him, and actually posted a strong 29 of 31 line through the opening 40 minutes of this contest. And both goals surrendered to that point essentially came with the Bruins down a man, with a power-play goal against in the opening period followed by a Tommy Novak goal scored a mere second after Boston ‘successfully’ killed off a double-minor penalty.
By the night’s end, Swayman finished with a 38-of-41 line, but failed to get a single goal of support.
First Star: Juuse Saros
Oct 22, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) blocks the shot of Boston Bruins center Elias Lindholm (28) during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Someone tell Buster Bluth that unlimited juice was finally back on the menu at Bridgestone Arena.
And not a moment too soon for the Predators.
Coming into this game with an 0-4-0 record, 3.64 goals against average, and .875 save percentage, Juuse Saros seemed like a perfect ‘get right’ kind of matchup for a Bruins club looking for some offensive cohesion with a reshaped and reshuffled top-nine forward group coming off a one-goal outing in Utah.
But it turned out that the Bruins was exactly what Saros needed, as he turned aside all 33 shots thrown his way in the win. The Bruins could’ve and should’ve made Saros’ night more difficult, and though they did exactly that with a fast and furious start in the second period, they failed to get anything by the crafty netminder. And you could simply see his confidence grow throughout the night, with the Bruins downright mystified in the third period.
