Stamkos Snaps Scoring Drought as Nashville Predators Defeat Boston Bruins, 6-3
The Nashville Predators wrapped up their three-game road trip Tuesday with a 6-3 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Steven Stamkos snapped his 13-game pointless streak with a goal and two assists. Ryan O'Reilly also recorded three points, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on Stamkos' tally.
Nashville outshot Boston, 31-21, and Juuse Saros made 18 saves to earn his 14th win of the season. Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves for Boston in the loss.
How the Predators Lined Up vs. Boston
Stamkos-O'Reilly-Evangelista
Forsberg-Novak-Marchessault
Smith-Svechkov-Sissons
Jankowski-McCarron-Bellows
Skjei-Blankenburg
Del Gaizo-Schenn
Englund-Stastney
Saros
Annunen
Extra: Lucchini, Barron
IR: Lauzon, Wilsby, L'Heureux, Josi
Mark Jankowski, who missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury, returned to the lineup for Nashville.
Zach L'Heureux (week-to-week, upper-body) was on the ice with the Predators for morning skate at TD Garden but remains on IR.
Predators at Bruins: Live Updates
First Period (NSH 2, BOS 1)
The Bruins struck first in this one, as Charlie Coyle took advantage of a misplay behind the net by Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney to score easily at the 4:25 mark of the first period.
Tommy Novak had a quick answer for Nashville just over a minute later when he capitalized on a turnover by Bruins forward Pavel Zacha and beat Swayman from the slot to tie the game at 1-1.
Nashville's newly formed line of Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Evangelista put the Predators ahead later in the period, when O'Reilly finished off a tic-tac-toe play from his wingers to make it 2-1 at 11:33. The play saw Stamkos record his first assist in 13 games, ending a career-long drought without a point. He now has 17 goals and 17 assists in 61 games.
Steven Stamkos, Nashville PredatorsSecond Period (NSH 3, BOS 2)
The Predators spent nearly the entire first five minutes of the second period defending in their own end until Boston found the back of the net at 5:08, when a shot from Jordan Oesterle deflected in off of Predators forward Fedor Svechkov.
Stamkos continued to heat up in the middle frame with a goal of his own – his first since Jan. 23 – at the 6:25 mark, annihilating a one-timer from the left face-off circle to put the Predators back on top, 3-2.
Third Period (NSH 6, BOS 3)
Boston tied the game once again at 5:35 of the third period, when Morgan Geekie fired home a centering pass from David Pastrnak for his 20th goal of the season.
Nashville regained a 4-3 lead at 8:28, when Jonathan Marchessault tapped in a backhand centering pass from Michael McCarron. O’Reilly then scored his second goal of the game 63 seconds later off a rush, batting in a saucer pass from Stamkos over the Swayman's right shoulder to give the Predators their first multi-goal lead of the game.
Mark Jankowski scored into the empty net at 17:52 for the 6-3 final.
Key Takeaways & Notes
- The Predators' win over Boston was their first road win over an Eastern Conference opponent this season. Nashville is now 22-32-7 (51 points) and 16 points back of the second Wild Card spot in the West.
- Predators forward Kieffer Bellows skated in his 100th career NHL game.
- Stamkos became the second player from the 2008 NHL Draft class to reach the 600-assist mark, joining Erik Karlsson.
- Saros won his 196th career game and tied Niklas Backstrom for the sixth most by a Finnish-born goalie.
- With a pair of assists, Pastrnak extended his home point streak to 12 games for the first time in his career. He has 10 goals and 14 assists in that span.
Up Next
The Predators return home to host the Seattle Kraken Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.
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