The Nashville Predators only needed one to take the Bruins down. With Roman Josi’s lone goal, and Pekka Rinne playing shutout hockey, the Predators moved to 11-3-0 with 22 points in this young season.
Nashville Key Stats
Goals
Assists
Boston Key Stats
Power Play Attempts
0/4
Penalty Kill Attempts
5/5
What Happened
Statistically speaking, this was Nashville’s most uneventful game thus far. However, it was a continuous, fast-paced hockey game for both clubs.
Nearing the end of the first period, Josi retrieved a loose puck at the blue line, slipped through the defense, made his way into the slot, and beat Palak short side to give the Predators the only goal they needed.
Numerous penalties were handed out this game, including a 10 minute minor to Brad Marchand for high-sticking and embellishment.
Overall, the Predators had more scoring chances, dominated in the shot totals, and outplayed Boston from beginning to end.
Rinne stopped all 26 shots he faced, and Palak stopped 39 shots out of 40.
Looking Forward
Viktor Arvidsson, the normal spark plug for the Predators’ offense, missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. The Predators were looking for a guy to generate some offense.
Josi threw the puck on the net 10 times, which was a career high for the Swedish defenseman. Seeing how Nashville had 40 shots in total, the Captain’s 10 shots and goal unquestionably drove the offense.
Colton Sissons and Nick Bonino also elevated their play against the Bruins. Bonino recorded 5 shots, and Sissons recorded 3. Overall, the third line’s shot total reached 10, the most out of any line. Both forwards weren’t great in the face-off circle, but the third line was the best line as far as pressing offense.
Goaltender Pekka Rinne signed a two-year extension on his birthday and responded with a 26 save shutout. It was Rinne’s 5th win and second shutout of the year.
Nashville’s biggest game is coming up Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
The first line for Colorado has been all but unstoppable- Gabriel Landeskog, Miikko Rantanen, and Nathan MacKinnon have combined for an unbelievable 63 points already. However, the other forwards have combined for 45 points, and their defensemen have combined for 31 total points.
Nashville’s first line has combined for 41 points, yet their other lines have combined for 43 points with the defensemen producing 39 total points. They are evenly matched in almost every aspect, and it will take a complete effort to halt the Avalanche’s surge.
Also, Brad Marchand doing Brad Marchand things is to be expected, but that 10-minute minor was well deserved.
Cover Photo Credits: predslines.com
-Jack Woods covers the Nashville Predators and the Central Division for FullPressCoverage.com and PenaltyBoxRadio.com. You can follow Jack on Twitter at @jack_woods15 and the Full Press Predators at @FPC_Predators
