B’s lose from top down
No.1 line no help vs. Preds
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the fifth time this year, the Bruins’ top line was held off the scoreboard. The result? Yup, you guessed it. The top-heavy B’s could not get much going offensively and dropped a 1-0 decision to the Nashville Predators last night at the Bridgestone Arena, spoiling another very good performance by goaltender Jaroslav Halak (39 saves). It didn’t help that one of the the top three forwards, Brad Marchand, spent most of the second period in the penalty box. But most, if not all of the B’s scoring chances were of the one-and-done variety. The same could be said of the Predators’ opportunities, too, but they made good on one and that’s all they needed. Roman Josi scored in the first period and the Preds made it hold up. The B’s pulled Halak with 2:02 left but could not dent Pekka Rinne (26 saves). David Pastrnak missed the net on a one-timer at the horn. The Predators came into the game atop the NHL standings, but they didn’t start to get going until the Bruins took their first penalty, a Brandon Carlo hook at 12:02. The Preds did not score on the man-advantage but started to establish some momentum. Not too long after the kill was over, the Preds got on the board, thanks to some high-end skill from Josi and shoddy defensive zone work by the B’s. Danton Heinen had a chance to clear the zone, but Ryan Ellis held his ground at the blue line and kept the puck in. He eventually worked the puck to Josi, who went around Heinen near the right point and then spun Torey Krug before beating Halak with a low wrister to the short side at 14:49. Halak stopped the other 14 shots he saw in the period, continuing his strong play. The B’s got a power-play chance right off the ensuing faceoff when Joakim Nordstrom’s promising break-in was thwarted by a Yannick Weber hook. They managed a couple of shots on Rinne but were never able to set up in the zone. Marchand got the B’s in penalty trouble to start the second period, when he was called for high-sticking Colton Sissons with two seconds left,. Whether or not Marchand actually made contact with Sissons’ helmet or not, the Nashville forward certainly appeared to help it along. Marchand didn’t like it, and started mocking Sissons repeatedly. That got him an extra two minutes. Marchand wasn’t done. After the period was over, he continued to give it to referee Marc Joannette, earning him an extra 10 minutes, leaving the B’s without one of their best forwards for most of the second period. But the B’s did an excellent job of killing off the double minor — as good as Nashville is, they came into the game ranked 29th on the power play — and then quickly got another power play. This one was better as far as controlling the play, but a couple of tip attempts went wide and they remained down a goal. The B’s, in fact, got three power plays in a row, but could not cash in on any of them. On the third late in the second, the Preds had several shorthanded chances to stem any kind of momentum the B’s might have been gaining. And, again, the B’s were nailed with a late penalty when Steven Kampfer was called for tripping with 3.1 seconds left in the second when he sprawled out to defend an odd-man rush. Through two periods, Nashville held a 23-20 shot advantage.