Zach L’Heureux made his NHL debut for the Preds tonight as Head Coach Andrew Brunette continued to try to find a solution to the team’s skid. It wasn’t all on L’Heureux, but Nashville finally managed to put together a win.
Both teams took a penalty within the opening 22 seconds, with David Pastrňák hooking Gustav Nyquist at 0:13 and Ryan O’Reilly cutting the Preds’ power play short just nine seconds in with an interference penalty.
Jeremy Lauzon almost got the scoring started on the four-on-four with a fantastic drive to the net that almost made it past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, and Roman Josi had another great look shortly after. Neither team scored. Less than a minute after the teams returned to five-on-five play, Luke Schenn challenged Mark Kastelik to a fight, and lost.
The Preds got several more chances, from odd-man rushes to sustained zone time, before Brady Skjei took a tripping penalty. Juuse Saros was kept busy on the penalty kill, but he and the team got through it and Nashville went back to the power play just moments later when Max Jones went to the box for interference.
While the Preds threatened, they weren’t able to score, though they got another chance a few minutes later when Jones took another penalty. This time, O’Reilly tipped a Josi shot to make up for his earlier penalty and get the Preds on the board at 17:16.
Boston immediately counterattacked, with Saros forced to make a huge save on Pastrňák. They continued to test the Preds as the period wound down, and came out incredibly strong to start the second. Nashville couldn’t get out of their own end at all, and Swayman didn’t have to make his first save of the period until 5:40.
Once they found the offensive zone, the Preds got to work in it, making Swayman work for his saves and drawing a penalty. With Nikita Zadorov in the box, the Bruins brought out an aggressive penalty kill that trapped the Preds in their end and got most of the best looks of the interval.
Nashville finished the power play strong and took that momentum back to even strength, getting a four-minute power play a few minutes later when Charlie MacAvoy high-sticked Steven Stamkos and drew blood. The second PP unit got the first icetime, but Stamkos and the rest of the first unit got to see the ice very soon.
While the Preds weren’t able to score until the second penalty had expired, Tommy Novak got the puck past Swayman before MacAvoy could actually make it over to join in the play, giving the Preds a two-goal lead for the first time this season. Nashville continued to crank up the pressure, but faltered at the start of the third.
Saros had to make a huge save on Pastrňák within the first minute, then a lot more when Cole Smith took a penalty at 2:42. Alex Carrier also made a heroic diving block to keep a Bruins power-play chance out of the back of the net.
The Preds weathered the storm, and at 12:47 Gus Nyquist extended the lead. In a bold move, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery pulled Swayman — a desperation move, but with a three-goal deficit to make up, there was no time to waste — and Luke Evangelista managed to secure an empty-net goal at 13:56. Swayman returned to the net.
Skjei took his second tripping penalty of the night with 4:21 to go, but the Preds were able to kill off that penalty as well. Saros earned the shutout as the Bridgestone crowd erupted into celebration.