Predators steal a point in Boston in shoot-out loss

The Nashville Predators were outplayed in all aspects of the game with the Bruins in Boston on Saturday afternoon but hung just close enough to salvage a point when they took the game to overtime and then lost in the shoot-out.

Patrice Bergeron scored a goal and then picked up the game decider in the shootout for Boston. Daniel Paille and Milan Lucic picked up the other goals for the Bruins.

Mike Fisher was the offensive hero for Nashville as he scored with 3:32 left in the game to temporarily put the Predators in front and eventually allow the game to go to overtime. Shea Weber and Patric Hornqvist scored the other Preds goals.

Tim Thomas was the winner in net, stopping 19 of 22 Predator shots. Pekka Rinne was the hard-luck loser after being peppered with 41 Boston shots.

The Predators returned home after the game and will play the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena.



At the Puck Drop...

In Goal: Tim Thomas (22-10-0, 2.16, .932) vs. Pekka Rinne (30-12-5, 2.4, .923.

Versus Opponent: Thomas (2-0-0, 1.50, 956 - 2 games). Rinne is (2-0-0, 2.33, .921 - 2 games) Thomas and Rinne have never faced each other head-to-head.

Scratches: Nashville - Matt Halischuk, Ryan Ellis, and Brian McGrattan. Boston - Nathan Horton and Steven Kampfer.

First Period...

Boston came out with plenty of speed to start the game and were pressing the pace right from the opening puck drop. The Predators were obviously focusing on their defense and were playing more reactionary hockey.

Boston went on the games first power play at 10:37 when Mike Fisher was called for hooking Patrice Bergeron. Boston got two shots on goal during the man-advantage.

There were a pair of too many men on the ice penalties with a 19 second overlap. The Preds were called at 13:02 and Boston was whistled at 14:43. Boston made the most of the situation when Bergeron scored short-handed for the Bruins at 16:00 off of a great play from Brad Marchand.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	6	11	2-4:00	7-16  30%
Bruins	1	16	27	1-2:00	16-7  70%

Second Period...

The Bruins continued to push the pace to start the middle stanza. At 2:17, Rinne completly lost the puck and was fortunate not to have a goal scored on the empty side of the net.

Patric Hornqvist had a great opportunity in front to the net at 6:24 and missed the net and then was subsequently punched in the face by Adam McQuaid who was called for roughing.

Weber got the Preds's first shot of the period at 7:32 and picked up a power play goal to tie the game 1-1. Ryan Suter picked up the assist. The Bruins were out-shooting the Preds 23-7 at the time.

Sergei Kostitsyn was called for interference on Johnny Boychuk at 10:30. The Preds held Boston shot-less during the man-advantage.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	7	13	1-2:00	7-9  44%
Bruins	0	10	26	1-2:00	9-7  56%

Third Period...

Boston came out firing to start the final period and Rinne had to make several quick saves in the first minute of play. At 2:55, Boston finally broke through when threw a perfect backhand pass from Shawn Thornton in  the corner to Paille, who Kevin Klein lost in front of the net, allowing the goal to put the Bruins ahead 2-1.

At 9:33, Hornqvist scored on the Preds first shot of the period off of an interesting seeing-eye pass from Sergei Kostitsyn to tie the game 2-2. Pekka Rinne also picked up an assist on the play, his second of the season.

The Predators got a break at 12:02 when McQuaid was called for delay of game, putting the puck over the glass. At 13:21, Boston avoided the five on three when the officials ignored a violent crosscheck to the back of Hornqvist. The Preds had three shots on the man advantage.

In spite of being outplayed the entire game, the Predators took the lead at 16:28 when Fisher picked up a rebound off a shot by Hornqvist and put the backhand into the net. Frankie Bouillon had the secondary assist.

Kostitsyn was called for a phantom tripping call on Lucic at 17:42. Lucic then scored the tying goal on the power play at 18:53 on the goalie pull when Rinne dove and couldn't recover, leaving the net open for the score.

3rd  Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	2	10	26	1-2:00	10-7   59%
Bruins	1	8	23	1-2:00	7-10  41%

Overtime and Shootout...

Both teams played cautiously in overtime but the best scoring chance came with 15.2 seconds left when Marchand had Rinne one on one due to a bad defensive change and hit the crossbar.

Overtime	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	3	5	0-0:00	2-6  25%
Bruins	0	1	3	0-0:00	6-2  75%

Shootout...


David Krejci - Rinne save
Sergei Kostitsyn - hit the post
Tyler Seguin - scored
Marty Erat - blocked by Thomas
Patrice Bergeron - scored - game over


Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	3	22	38	4-8:00	26-38 41%
Bruins	4	41	83	3-6:00	38-26 59%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass