In their return to home ice, the Boston Bruins (8-2-1) bounced back from an overtime loss against the Dallas Stars to shut out the Nashville Predators (3-3-3) by a score of 6-0 in a game the Bruins controlled from start to finish.
It took just 3:49 for Boston to open the scoring after dominating play through the opening minutes. Charlie McAvoy forced a turnover and found Boston’s captain in the neutral zone to jump start a counter attack. David Pastrnak took the zone on the right side and found Casey Mittelstadt, who put home his third goal of the season.
In the closing minutes of the first period, Boston headed to the power play as Nicolas Hague committed the game's first penalty. The defenseman was whistled for a holding penalty as he grasped at David Pastrnak.
Boston’s power play has been trending up after starting the season 0-10, converting six of their last eighteen attempts entering the night. It took just 15 seconds for the Bruins to make it 7-19, nearly 37%, as Charlie McAvoy collected a pass from Pavel Zacha at the blue line and fired a shot towards Justus Annunen. On its way to the net, Elias Lindholm redirected the puck into the back of the net to double Boston’s advantage.
Midway through the second period, Boston built on the lead with a goal reminiscent of the team’s second goal of the game. Zacha circled behind the cage and snapped a pass towards McAvoy at the right side of the blue line, with the defenseman wasting no time sending the puck towards the net. Pastrnak was able to get just enough of a touch on the puck to beat Annunen and put the Bruins up 3-0.
The Bruins turned to their top players late in period number two to put the contest out of reach for the Predators. JJ Peterka collected the puck in the neutral zone before racing forward, entering the zone on the left side to set up a three-on-two rush. The winger sent the puck across the attacking zone to David Pastrnak at the blue line before Pastrnak returned it to Peterka at the far post to put the Bruins up 4-0.
Seven minutes into the third period, Mark Kastelic added an insurance goal to make it 5-0 Boston. Matt Poitras dumped the puck in deep as Kastelic crashed towards the cage. The puck ricocheted right to Kastelic on the door step, giving Annunen no chance to deny him of his second goal of the season.
David Pastrnak capped off his four point night with five minutes remaining in the game. Frederic Brunet took the zone on the left side and sent a pass to Pastrnak on the opposite side of the attacking zone. Pastrnak made one move before firing the snap shot home to make it 6-0.
Michael DiPietro recorded a shut out, stopping all 28 shots he faced. Justus Annunen stopped 25 of the 31 shots he faced.
Next up, the Bruins stay home to take on the San Jose Sharks Saturday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on NESN.
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