The Predators face the Bruins tonight at Bridgestone Arena in one of their toughest tests of this up and down season.
The Nashville Predators may be 6-4 in their last ten games, but those ten games have been a roller coaster. The highlight was a three game win streak right before the All Star break in which the Preds defeated the L.A. Kings, Winnipeg Jets, and New Jersey Devils. The low point - Monday night's 4-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. The Predators have eked out six wins, but the season feels a little like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get.
Tonight the Predators face a tough test against the 40-8-5 Boston Bruins. This will be Nashville's first chance to play the league leading Bruins, and it comes at a challenging time for the Preds. Tonight the team will be without top goal scorer Filip Forsberg who is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury.
Despite their dominance this season, Boston has had their own struggles of late, dropping four of their last six games. On Tuesday, the Bruins pulled out the win over Western Conference leading Dallas Stars thanks to David Pastrnak's overtime goal. Pavel Zacha has three goals and two assists in the last five games and the Bruins boast one of the best goal tending duos in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Strong seasons by Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, and Patrice Bergeron round out a formidable roster in Boston.
Boston's recent slump aside, tonight's matchup will be challenging for the Predators.
Keys to the Game
Finish offensively.
In their last two games, the Nashville Predators have generated 22 high danger chances for according to naturalstattrick.com, but the team only scored four goals in those games against Philadelphia and Arizona. Creating quality chances will be challenging against one of the league's stingiest defenses this season. The Predators will need to execute cleanly with the puck, capitalize on any open looks they get, and play a north/south speed game.
With Filip Forsberg out of the lineup, shooters Matt Duchene and Roman Josi will need to step up. With their quick releases, they may be Nashville's best chance to get a puck past Ullmark.
Control the net front.
The real estate in front of the goaltender is going to be valuable tonight for the Predators - offensively and defensively. With Ullmark in net, Nashville will need to create net front traffic and look for tip in opportunities. He simply doesn't let in easy goals so battling for position could be the Preds' best chance to sneak the puck in.
Defensively Nashville needs to give Juuse Saros plenty of support in the low slot and in front of the net. The Bruins are adept at breaking down defenses and slipping a shooter in the slot, so tonight the Preds will need to keep their heads on a swivel and not overplay below the net.
Special teams need to be very, very special.
Special teams stats don't paint a rosy picture for the Predators who will be facing the seventh best power play unit and the best penalty kill in the league right now. The Preds have struggled to get the power play going after the break finding success only once on eight power play chances, but if they can take advantage of a man advantage opportunity it cold go a long way in keeping Nashville in this game.
While the Bruins have a top power play, they too have been struggling recently to capitalize. They have gone 0/8 in their last three games, but just to be safe, the Preds should plan to just stay out of the box.
Tonight will be a huge test for a Predators team still trying to decide whether they will make a run for the playoffs or disassemble at the trade deadline and offseason. Nashville has a weird quirk of being able to rise to the occasion against top teams when they put their mind to it, but it will be a big ask after Monday's disappointing performance against Arizona and without Filip Forsberg.
The Predators take on the Bruins tonight at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm CST. Bally Sports South will broadcast the game, and 102.5 The Game will have the radio call.