Predators Blank Bruins In Nashville (10/22/24)

For the first time this season, the Boston Bruins got their asses kicked. Yes, they lost by two goals to the Florida Panthers but they were in the game. Tonight the Nashville Predators utterly spanked them. Jeremy Swayman was under fire from the opening whistle, facing 41 total shots before the game was over. The Bruins did manage 33 shots against Juuse Saros of Nashville, but he was a brick wall in net. The Bruins took four penalties in the first period and the Max Jones tripping call led to a Ryan O'Reilly power play goal in the first period. Thomas Novak scored in the second period and Gustav Nyquist scored in the third to put the game away. Head coach Jim Montgomery pulled Jeremy Swayman with just over 6 minutes left in the game and Luke Evangelista did the honors with the empty net goal. It all added up to a 4-0 Panthers win over the Bruins at Bridgestone Arena. How many goals did the Bruins score Dean Wormer?

The tone was set just 13 seconds into the game when David Pastrnak was called for hooking. Just nine seconds after that, Ryan O'Reilly was bagged for interference to make it four on four just like that. Old pal Jeremy Lauzon was robbed by Swayman and on the other end, Nikita Zadorov was robbed by Juuse Saros. Then just 3:15 into the game, Mark Kastelic said "put em up" with Luke Schenn. Kastelic pounded him to the ice mostly taking advantage of the fact Luke is a lefty. Swayman managed to barely get a pad on a Thomas Novak shot 7:32 into the period and shortly after, Brady Skjei was sent to the box for tripping. Brad Marchand failed to get a puck past Saros on the power play then robbed Elias Lindholm as well. Pavel Zacha was denied at the doorstep as well. Then Max Jones was penalized for interference with 8:35 left in the first. One minute into the power play, Swayman lost his stick behind the net as the Predators circled. Steven Stamkos fired on net but it went wide. The puck was cleared and Swayman made a mad dash to retrieve his stick. The Bruins killed off the penalty and Schenn's slapshot was gloved by Swayman with 5 minutes left in the period. Then disaster struck when Jones was sent to the box for tripping with 2:55 left. Filip Fosberg passed it to Roman Josi who fired on net, tipped in by Ryan O'Reilly to give the Predators the lead. Pastrnak had a chance to tie it on a breakaway but Saros stopped it. Marchand was also stopped on the doorstep and the Bruins went to intermission down 1-0.

                                                                 Preds up early

The second period was a defensive clinic put on by the Predators. 7 minutes into the period, Zadorov was sent to the box for hooking to put the Predators on the power play. Marchand had a shorthanded breakaway but Saros saved the shot. Gustav Nyquist's slapshot hit the post and the Bruins killed it off. With 7:07 left in the period, Charlie McAvoy was tagged for a double minor high sticking penalty. Just as it was just about killed off, Skjei passed it down low to Luke Evangelista. He threw it in front and Novak banged it in to put the Predators up by two with 3:05 left in the period. The Bruins were in trouble heading in to the third down 2-0.

                                                       Predators are dominating

Pastrnak had a wide open breakaway just nine seconds into the third period but he slipped onto the ice, crashing into Saros instead. Still, the Bruins got their last chance to get back in the game when Cole Smith was whistled for high sticking 2:42 into the period. Pastrnak passed to Zacha in front of the net but Saros BARELY got his pad on the shot to deny Pavel. With 7:13 left, Josi passed the puck up to O'Reilly who dished it up the ice to Nyquist. Nyquist's shot from the point went in for a softie allowed by Swayman, he definitely should have had that one. It was 3-0 Nashville with the game all but over. For whatever reason, Montgomery pulled Swayman with 6 minutes left in the game and in a microcosm of the game, Pastrnak completely whiffed on the shot from the point. Evangelista then flipped the puck into the Bruins net for the empty net goal to complete the embarrassment. With 4:21 left, Skjei took a tripping penalty to put the Bruins on the power play. With 3:30 left, a shot deflected to the stick of Brad Marchand. Somehow Marchand failed to lift the puck over the glove of Saros for the final boot to the ass. The Predators killed off the penalty and won the game 4-0.

                                                        Saros shuts out the Bruins

Reaction:

That was the first game all season the Bruins looked completely inept in all three phases of the game. Swayman allowed some soft goals, the defense was non-existent on others and they couldn't crack Saros at all. Marchand and Zacha had open nets or prime positions to score and they failed. The defense left Swayman out to dry more often than not, and those are on the shots he didn't save. There were plenty others he did manage to stop. Bad games are going to happen this season and this was their first truly bad game. Hopefully they don't make a habit out of it. The Bruins look to shake off this disaster this Thursday night at home against Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.