The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Hall’s OT goal lifts Bruins to victory
BOSTON — Taylor Hall scored off a rebound of David Pastrnak’s shot 1:41 into overtime, lifting the red-hot Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Western Conference-leading Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Pastrnak took a shot from the right circle and the puck slipped behind Saros, where Hall poked it in for the game-winner.
Brad Marchand, Craig Smith and Mike Reilly also scored for the Bruins, who won their fifth straight and are 8-1 since New Year’s Day. Linus Ullmark made 26 saves.
“Looking back, with the COVID break, we had a little time where we could ramp back up,” Smith said of Boston’s 2022 start. “If anybody was in a spot where they weren’t happy about their game, it was a spot where they could regroup.”
Colton Sissons, Luke Kunin and Ramon Josi each had a goal for Nashville, which has only lost three times in regulation in its last 18 games (13-3-2). Juuse Saros made 40 saves for the Predators.
“I really liked our game,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “We’ve talked about being a tough team to play against mentally and physically.”
Marchand’s power-play goal — a rising wrist shot over Saros’ glove into the top right corner from the right circle — had pushed Boston ahead 3-2 just 3:50 into the third period, but Josi tied it after a turnover by Pastrnak.
Marchand reached 20 goals for the ninth straight season and for the second time this week had a bloody nose and scored. On Monday, he suffered a broken nose in a win at Washington but scored twice after the injury.
In the second period on Saturday, Marchand took what appeared to be an inadvertent elbow from Josi to the nose along the boards, sending the Boston forward dazed to the ice. He had gauze stuffed up his nostrils on the bench but returned for his next shift.
“When the playoffs start, you need to have that game in your bag,” Hall said. “That was a fun game to play.”
Trailing 2-0, the Predators scored late in the opening period and tied it when Kunin slipped a low wrist shot by Ullmark 7:32 into the second period.
“It’s not only about physical toughness, it’s about mental toughness, too,” Hynes said. “Being two down against one of the hottest teams in the NHL, we had a strong game against a very solid hockey team. … I’m glad we got at least a point after that effort.”
Sissons had sliced Nashville’s deficit in half when he skated across from the left circle into the slot before firing a wrister into the net.
Smith gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead 3:20 into the game against his former team when he beat Saros with a wrister over the glove from the right circle.
Reilly collected a crossice pass from Erik Haula, cut across the crease and lifted a backhander into the net 4:17 later.
CAPITALS 2, ISLANDERS 0
NEW YORK — Tom Wilson scored early, Alex Ovechkin added an emptynet goal late, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves to lead Washington to a victory.
Vanecek picked up his seventh win of the season and his third career shutout as the Capitals snapped a four-game skid (0-2-2).
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves in only his fifth start for the Islanders since allowing four goals against the New York Rangers in late November.
Wilson opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the slot at 4:35 of the first period. The Islanders lost track of Wilson when the Capitals broke over the blue line and a spinning Aliaksei Protas zipped a pass to Wilson, who was all alone between the circles. Washington outshot the Islanders 16-7 in the first 20 minutes.
The Islanders’ best opportunity came midway through the first period when defenseman Noah Dobson fired a wrist shot off the post after making a nifty move to create space in the slot.