Predators at Bruins
The Boston Bruins stopped the bleeding with a big road victory last time out and could have Tuukka Rask back in the crease when they host the surging Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The Bruins ended a four-game losing streak Saturday with a 2-1 victory at the New York Islanders without Rask (lower body) and sit one point ahead of Tampa Bay for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
“We just got back to playing stingy, especially in the neutral zone,” Boston center Patrice Bergeron told reporters. “We got away from it the last few games, and it was nice (Saturday) to be back playing a low-scoring game like what we’re used to playing.” Nashville helped out the Bruins by posting a 3-1 road triumph over the Islanders on Monday for its season high-tying fourth straight victory and seventh in eight contests. The Predators remained one point ahead of St. Louis for third place in the Central Division and should have Pekka Rinne back in net after he was rested in favor of Juuse Saros on Monday. Rinne is 5-0-2 in his last seven starts and Viktor Arvidsson has scored five goals in his last six games.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet One, TVA, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (39-25-11): Arvidsson shares the team lead with 29 goals - including a league-best five short-handers - in 73 games this season after netting eight in 62 contests over the previous two seasons. Leading scorer Ryan Johansen recorded his 100th career goal Monday to push his total to 58 points - seven in the last eight games - while the 20-year-old Kevin Fiala notched his ninth of the season. Captain Mike Fisher (lower body), who is fifth on the team with 41 points, is expected to miss his fourth straight game Tuesday but joined the club on its road trip.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (39-30-6): Rask, who has lost four in a row since posting his 200th career victory, told reporters Monday he was ready to play after Anton Khudobin earned the victory on Saturday. Leading scorer Brad Marchand (37 goals, 80 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in three consecutive games while David Pastrnak (32, 64) has registered just one point in his last four contests. David Krejci (50 points) reportedly left practice Monday with an upper-body injury and is questionable to face Nashville.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville RW Craig Smith was kept off the scoresheet Monday but has recorded six assists and a plus-8 rating in his last four games.
2. Boston captain Zdeno Chara has notched 24 points this season and is one shy of 600 for his career.
3. The Predators have earned at least one point in five of their last six meetings with the Bruins (4-1-1), including a 2-1 triumph in Nashville on Jan. 12.