The Boston Bruins returned home from their three-game Canada swing for a semi-rare Monday night affair with the slumping Nashville Predators. And in a game that featured early chance-for-chance opportunities at each end of the rink, and penalties galore (the two teams combined for 18 penalties and 44 minutes in penalties), the Preds ultimately found a way to pull ahead with a 3-2 win behind a late surge and the power-play prowess of defenseman Roman Josi.
Nashville backup Carter Hutton earned the win behind a 15-of-17 showing, while Jonas Gustavsson exited the rink as a loser in spite of his strong 30-of-33 effort in the B’s crease.
Here are some leftover thoughts and notes from the loss…
Gustavsson has strong rebound performance
Watching B’s backup netminder Jonas Gustavsson is sometimes a bit of an adventure. There are times when you wish the 31-year-old’s rebound control or puck-tracking was a bit better. (Then again, I’m sure you could say this about almost any goaltender.) But it seems like you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to Gustavsson either by way of an injury or a regression back towards a sub-par NHL netminder. But the Swede has battled. And battled hard. From tryout to contract, and from contract to solid backup, Gustavsson has given you a chance to win in almost every start.
But you did watch his outing against the Calgary Flames last Friday and wonder, even if just a little bit, if Gustavsson’s luck had begun to run out. Monster entered that game with a .920 save percentage on the year, and he left it with a .908 after an early hook and 8-of-11 showing against Calgary.
Gustavsson didn’t played poorly though, per se, and B’s head coach Claude Julien told him such both during that night and with the start given to him against Nashville on Monday night.
“I didn’t think Gus [Jonas Gustavsson] was that bad on Friday, and he knew that. I told him that,” Julien said on Monday. “Maybe that second goal [on Friday] was probably a goal he’d like to have back, but the other two, we left the guy alone both times in front of our net, and at the same time, personally I just felt that he didn’t seem at ease as much as I’d seen him before, so I made the switch to give us a chance to win. But there was nothing wrong with him, so we had planned on playing him tonight, as a fresh goaltender, because we wanted Tuukka [Rask] in Vancouver, and he did the job for us tonight. I think [with] the number of shots he faced and everything else, he gave us a chance.”
With the Preds practically doubling the Bruins up in shots -- 33 to 17 was the final tally in Nashville’s favor -- Gustavsson was forced to stand on his head in an active night. And he did up until the 55-minute mark when Viktor Arvidsson capitalized on his chance. Still, there’s a rhythm to Gus’ game.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’ve been playing every third or fourth game or so,” Gustavsson said after Monday’s game. “I mean, whatever the situation is you’ve got to figure out a way to stay sharp and stay ready – whether that’s playing three or four games in a row or a couple times a month – you’ve got to find a way and find something that works for you. So far it’s been pretty good.”
As it turns out, Gustavsson -- again, in camp on a tryout -- has been the right call for the Bruins, too. Jeremy Smith, Gustavsson’s biggest competitor for the job, has struggled on loan to the Iowa Wild, with one win and a .908 save percentage in 12 games. And both Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban are currently posting sub-.900 save percentage in their platoon with the P-Bruins.
“It’s such a small difference between a good game and a bad game sometimes, too. Even that game, if and but and all that would have happened maybe they wouldn’t have scored those three goals and you have a good game,” said Gustavsson. “So, you can always go back and say – point at different stuff – but if you do the same things again maybe the outcome would be different.
“You’ve just got to believe in what you’re doing; it’s the right thing no matter what the score is and what the result is and keep doing that because if you try to change too much in what you’re doing and what you’re believing in I think that’s when you’re in trouble.”
Bergeron ties Schmidt on club’s all-time scoring list
It seems like just yesterday we all watched Patrice Bergeron as the humble 18-year-old just trying to fit in on a 2003-04 Bruins club loaded with veterans. You loved his game, you saw promise, and the future seemed bright. At the same time, it’s absolutely terrifying to think that it’s been 12 years since that was the case for Bergeron and the Bruins. But it’s starting to show.
With an assist on Loui Eriksson’s power-play goal last night, Bergeron is up to 575 career points, which ties him with Bruins legend Milt Schmidt for 11th on the team’s all-time scoring list. Bergeron is just 12 points away from tying Peter McNab for No. 10 on that list, too.
“Did I?” Bergeron asked of the milestone. “Obviously Milt is someone that I respect a lot. He’s a legend with the Bruins and a true gentleman. It means a lot to me to, I guess, have done something – I’ve passed him with points, I guess. But bottom line is I don’t really pay much attention to that.”
What makes this all the more impressive for Bergeron is his recovery from the concussion woes No. 37 dealt with from 2007 to 2009, including a 72-game absence in the 2007-08 season.
The Scratching of Jimmy Hayes
B’s forward Jimmy Hayes was a healthy scratch for the second straight game on Monday night. In a way, Hayes has played his way into this, without a point in 11 of his last 12 games played. At the same time, I don’t necessarily know if I buy into the idea that a Hayes-less lineup is a better one.
Take a look at Boston’s last two games. While Julien praised the club’s ‘four-line game’ in their win over Vancouver on Saturday, that effort didn’t exactly make the difference for the Black and Gold on Monday. And even on Saturday, the Bruins barely cracked 20 shots against a Canucks club that’s, well, pretty bad. And after a 17-shot night against Carter Hutton and the Preds, you have to wonder the effectiveness of a lineup lacking a net-front presence like Hayes. Of course, you could point to the 6-foot-5 forward’s zero-shot effort against Calgary, but I’d counter with this: Even when he’s not on the scoresheet with points or shots, you notice that Hayes’ effort leads to chances for his linemates.
He’s one of those players that attracts bodies, especially around the front of the net. That creates more space for his linemates, and the Bruins sure as hell could have used some of that against Nashville.
And if you ask me, the only way Hayes gets out of his funk, is with ice time. Burying a player like Hayes, a guy that at one point this year had 11 points in a nine-game stretch, in the press box, will only hurt.
Bruins’ Randell is one bad dude
B’s forward Tyler Randell is one tough customer. Nashville forward Eric Nystrom found that out the hard way on Monday night after challenging the first-year NHLer to a fight.
“When they were down he asked me to go in the first,” Randell admitted of the scrap. “I said ‘we’ll see how the game goes’. It just happened.”
Bloodying Nystrom with a huge blow, Randell was honest about the impact of the fight after the loss.
“It’s pretty sore,” Randell said of his hand.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Boston Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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