A valiant effort by the Boston Bruins nearly went for naught, but they earned a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at Bridgeport Arena.
The Bruins entered their current three-game road trip after losing seven of their last nine games and playing against one of the best teams in the NHL. The Bruins received goals from Milan Lucic and Reilly Smith, while goaltender Tuukka Rask was solid with a 38-save performance. But it wasn't enough as the Predators' Derek Roy scored the lone goal in the shootout en route to victory.
The Bruins continue their road trip and will face the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.
Countrymen: The story of this game was the goaltending at both ends of the ice. While Rask was solid, Nashville's Pekka Rinne was outstanding, making 33 saves. It was a battle of fellow Finnish natives, and Rinne was a little bit better. Rask had no chance on the two regulation goals he allowed. The first was a power-play goal he never saw, and the second was an uncontested, pointblank blast. His 38 saves tied a season-high. Rinne proved why he's the early-season favorite for the Vezina with his outstanding performance.
Power play: For the first time in six games, the Bruins actually had more than two power plays in a game. Boston went 0-for-3 but it showed signs of improving on the man-advantage. Lucic's goal was an even-strength tally, but it came at the tail end of a strong power play by Boston. However, the Bruins did not register a shot on their third power play of the game. Nashville went 1-for-4 on the PP. With Boston holding a 1-0 lead, the Predators capitalized on the man-advantage and tied the game at 1-1 on Mike Fisher's goal at 19:30 of the second period. It was Nashville's first power-play goal on home ice since its home opener, snapping an 0-for-43 skid.
Hello, Carl?: The Bruins have struggled scoring goals this season and everyone needs to be held accountable, but forward Carl Soderberg is in the midst of a 15-game goal-scoring drought. He does have six assists in that span, but he needs to start scoring more.
Heating up: With his goal against the Predators, Smith now has four goals and two assists for six points in the last five games.