Bruins at Predators
A pair of teams battling to enhance their Stanley Cup playoff positions clash when the Boston Bruins continue their season-high six-game road trip Thursday against the Nashville Predators. Boston improved to 3-1-0 on its trek and 19-6-3 on the road this season while moving into second in the Atlantic Division - four points clear of fourth-place Tampa Bay - with a 2-1 overtime victory over Columbus on Tuesday after outlasting the worst team in the Metropolitan.
“It was obviously nice to get the result we wanted,” Bruins defenseman Torey Krug told reporters. “It wasn’t pretty by any means whatsoever, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter. We’ll move on to the next game and look at those two points.” Nashville fell to 2-3-2 in its last seven games following a 3-2 overtime loss to Dallas on Monday and may have a bit of a goaltending controversy on its hands as it tries to maintain one of the two wild-card spots in the Western Conference. Carter Hutton made his second consecutive start in goal Monday as No. 1 Pekka Rinne (.902 save percentage, 2.57 goals-against average) struggles through an uncharacteristically poor season. "Decisions are hard and they're every day," Predators coach Peter Laviolette told reporters.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360, NESN (Boston), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (31-20-6): Left wing Loui Eriksson tallied in overtime Tuesday to extend his scoring streak to four games and become Boston's third 20-goal scorer this season. The Bruins got healthier Tuesday with the return of center Patrice Bergeron (22 goals, team-high 48 points), who missed two games with a lower-body injury, and defenseman Adam McQuaid (upper body) - absent for 18 contests. Brad Marchand (club-most 28 goals) saw his seven-game scoring streak halted Tuesday but hasn't gone consecutive contests without a goal since Jan. 13-15, recording 13 tallies in 14 games since.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (26-21-10): Filip Forsberg scored Monday for his fifth goal in the last five games, raising his season total to 19 - two behind team leader James Neal. "He’s the type of player that can do that,'' Laviolette told reporters about Forsberg's outburst. "He’s playing the game fast, and he’s attacking the game." Defenseman Roman Josi leads the Predators in assists (31) and points (42), and has a goal and four assists in his last four games.
OVERTIME
1. Bergeron needs two points for 600 in his career.
2. Boston hasn't scored a power-play goal in four games and is 1-for-32 over its last nine contests with a man advantage.
3. Nashville prevailed 3-2 on Dec. 7 in Boston on Viktor Arvidsson's goal with 4:56 left in regulation.