|
 "We just started to play our game — tried not to be too fancy and
just get pucks and bodies to the net," defenseman Johnny Boychuk
said after left winger Brad Marchand scored 54 seconds in overtime
as the Bruins pulled out a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators..
"The second period wasn't our best; you only have three shots and
you can't really win when you only have three shots obviously. We
just tried to get on the rush when you can and try and get more
pucks and bodies to the net and limit the turnovers."
It worked, and it made a winner of goalie Niklas Svedberg in his NHL
debut.
Down 1-0 and outshot 16-3 in the second period, the Bruins came out
a different team in the third. Goals by Boychuk, his first in 19
games, and right winger Jarome Iginla, his 13th of the season, gave
Boston the lead with 7:31 left.
Nashville defenseman Shea Weber, who assisted on his team's first
goal, tied it with his 10th goal of the year with 5:25 left to send
the game to overtime.
As he has done in the past, Julien went with three forwards and one
defenseman in the OT 4-on-4. On the second shift, Marchand, shaken
by a heavy Weber hit in the third period, made a great move to get
around center Mike Fisher before beating goaltender Marek Mazanec
with his 10th goal of the season.
"Fish knows better than that," said coach Barry Trotz. "He can't
play as light on guys one on one as that, but on all the goals, our
forwards were light on people tonight."
Said Fisher, who set up both Nashville goals and has eight points in
the last three games: "It was just a bad play by me ... I'd like
that back, but what do you do?"
Trotz added: "The people who put us back in the game were Fisher,
and our leadership, Weber scoring a big goal, it was our veteran
leadership group that got us back in there."
The victory allowed the Bruins to avoid their first three-game
losing streak of the season, and came after Tuukka Rask had lost two
straight in goal.
"Ever since I started playing this is where I wanted to be so I'm
real happy with this win," said Svedberg, who made 33 saves. "It's
just one game but it's real fun to get the win in my first game."
Nashville had a two-game winning streak stopped and still got a
point.
[to top of second column] |
Svedberg was supposed to debut last Saturday night at Ottawa.
But a roster problem, created when defenseman Zdeno Chara
couldn't play that night, forced the team to send Svedberg back
to Providence after the game.
"He's going to head back to Providence, but there's a good
chance you're going to see him here again very soon," Julien
said.
"He just showed he's a guy we need to look at, keep an eye on
and consider."
Svedberg wasn't severely tested early, but did get a break when
right winger Craig Smith's power-play slapper rang off the
crossbar in the first period. The Bruins then got sloppy late in
a second period, which has been a problem period for them all
season. They have outscored the opposition 35-23 in the first
and 48-29 in the second but have been outscored 34-32 in the
second.
A bad line change led to the first NHL goal allowed by Svedberg.
Weber got the puck to Fisher, whose sharp-angle shot was
stopped. The rebound came right out to Viktor Stalberg, who
buried it at 18:04 of the second.
It was Stalberg's fifth goal of the season but first in eight
games. It was his first game back in Boston since winning the
Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in the spring.
NOTES: D Dougie Hamilton (knee) and LW Carl Soderberg (head)
returned to the Bruins' lineup. Soderberg missed the previous
two games for what was believed to be a concussion, but he said
he was not concussed. Hamilton missed the previous 10 games and
had an assist on the winning goal. ... The Predators signed D
Jonathan Ismael-Diaby, a third-round pick in the 2013 draft, to
a three-year entry-level contract. ... The Bruins began a
stretch of five consecutive games and eight of the next nine
against the Western Conference. They host the Winnipeg Jets on
Saturday and then play five of their next six on the road,
starting with three in California. ... The Predators opened a
three-game road trip. They visit Florida to play the Panthers
and Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
... Linesmen Lonnie Cameron and Mark Wheler, already working
their second straight game in Boston, were told, because of the
storm, to stay in Boston and work Saturday's game as well.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
