Bruins at Predators
The Boston Bruins would love to take their home act on the road when they visit the Nashville Predators on Monday. Boston skated to its seventh straight victory at TD Garden on Saturday, a 4-1 triumph over Buffalo in the back end of a home-and-home series. Reilly Smith scored twice and Milan Lucic netted his team-leading 12th goal for the Bruins, whose 15-3-2 mark at home significantly trumps their 9-7-0 record on the road.
Nashville suffered its third straight setback and eighth in 11 games (3-6-2) as it dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Montreal. Captain Shea Weber collected a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to five games, which is tied for the longest by a member of the Predators this season. Weber tallied in the teams' last meeting on March 17, 2011, which Boston won in a shootout.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (24-10-2): Brad Marchand missed practice on Sunday after absorbing quite the beating against the Sabres but is expected to be ready to go versus Nashville. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton was on the ice for the second straight day as he continues to work his way back from a lower-body injury. Fourth-liner Daniel Paille returned to practice on Sunday after being diagnosed with a concussion, but he did not make the trip to Nashville.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (16-16-4): Rookie defenseman Seth Jones returned to practice on Sunday, one day removed from taking a deflected slap shot to the face. "Thanks everyone for all the support," the 19-year-old Jones tweeted on Sunday. "It was a scary injury, but I'm all good and back on the ice now." The fourth overall pick of the 2013 draft, Jones averages 21 1/2 minutes of ice time.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville C Craig Smith has collected five goals and six assists in his last 14 games.
2. Boston has killed off 23-of-24 short-handed situations.
3. The Predators have scored seven power-play goals in their last five contests.