After a couple games apart, the Boston Bruins’ line with Danton Heinen, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak was put back together against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The trio dominated from start to finish in the 3-0 win.
It took 53:18 for someone to break open the scoring when the Boston Bruins took on the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday, and when it finally happened, it came from the most unlikely scenario: a short-handed goal.
Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark possessed the puck behind the net on Boston’s penalty kill, rimmed it along the glass and up to Brad Marchand, who found Charlie Coyle in space up the middle. Coyle skated in and roofed the puck past Nashville goalie Juuse Saros to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 6:42 left in regulation.
Nashville had more than enough time to tie the game, but Boston’s Danton Heinen-Pavel Zacha-David Pastrnak line followed up on their strong start of the game to combine for two goals and put the game out of reach, resulting in a 3-0 win.
Ullmark made 32 saves in the shutout, and the penalty kill went 4-for-4 in addition to scoring a short-handed goal, but it was Heinen-Zacha-Pastrnak that locked up the win.
The trio roared out of the gate to open the game, outshooting Nashville 5-0 in the first period at 5-on-5. The two other ‘top’ lines – excluding the fourth – were collectively outshot 4-0 by the Predators in the same span.
Fourth-liner Justin Brazeau exited late in the first period with an upper-body injury, which resulted in some shuffling, but Bruins coach Jim Montgomery mainly kept Zacha’s line together.
The Predators tilted the ice for nearly the entire game, but Ullmark stood on his head just long enough for Coyle to break through on the penalty kill. Exactly four minutes later, Zacha’s line finally cashed in.
Pastrnak led the charge, speeding along the right side of the zone and swooping behind the goal line. He fed it to Heinen out front on the left side, drawing Saros out to face the potential shot. However, Heinen delivered a perfect pass to Zacha, who was trailing the play and had a wide open net to double the lead. All three were on the ice for Pastrnak's empty-net goal to make it a 3-0 final.
The types of plays on their first goal, involving one of the top six lines actively generating offense while protecting a late one-goal lead instead of sitting back on their heels, is what the Bruins lacked earlier this season and exactly what they need to bring in the postseason.
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