This game felt like nothing really happened, but just enough did.
The Nashville Predators faced the Boston Bruins tonight in Boston.
Luke Evangelista took an early penalty, tripping Brandon Carlo while trying to generate some offense. Colton Sissons got a shorthanded breakaway, and although Linus Ullmark was able to save the shot, it was probably the best chance for either team before they returned to even strength.
Brad Marchand and Jeremy Lauzon alternated penalties as the period continued, and a Charlie McAvoy penalty gave the Bruins a great shorthanded chance—it was actually reviewed as a potential goal, but confirmed not to be. Marchand then gave the Preds a brief 5v3 power play by cross-checking Egor Afanasyev on the penalty kill, but the Preds were unable to score, and Dante Fabbro finished the period off with another penalty, for closing his hand on the puck.
While the Preds were able to kill off Fabbro’s penalty, half before and half after intermission, Cal Foote then cross-checked Marchand. David Pastrnak was then called for boarding for bouncing Kevin Gravel’s head off the glass, putting the teams back to 4v4 for a brief interval before a Nashville power play.
Halfway through the second, Afanasyev was called for roughing against McAvoy for high-sticking him in the face. Play dragged on, until finally, at 18:11 of the second, Cody Glass got a shot past Ullmark to put the Preds on the board.
Brandon Carlo was then called for high-sticking, sending the Preds back to the power play with :27 remaining in the second period.
The third period consisted of an absolutely relentless Boston attack, with Saros forced to make save after save and the Preds valiantly blocking some of the shots, while still never really making it out of their own end. With Ullmark pulled for the extra attacker, Jeremy Lauzon scored into the empty net to give the Preds a two-goal lead with 1:19 to go.
With under one second remaining, Pastrnak broke Saros’s sadly much-deserved shutout, but thanks to Lauzon’s goal was still unable to get the Bruins to overtime. This was only Boston’s fourth regulation home loss this season.