Preview: Bruins look to right the ship in a trip to Nashville

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 8 PM

Where: Bridgestone Arena - Nashville, TN

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: On the Forecheck

Know your enemy

• 12-9-1, 25 points, 3rd place in the Central Division
• Mikael Granlund: 5G-20A-25PTS; Matt Duchene: 13G-11A-24PTS; Roman Josi: 7G-13A-20PTS
• Juuse Saros: 10-7-1, 2.35 GAA, .922 save percentage

Game notes

• Nothing says “let’s get out of this funk!” quite like a trip to a difficult place to play to face a pretty decent Predators team, eh? Let’s have fun out there.
• We’re all pretty much aware of the state of things with the B’s at this point: Brad Marchand is still suspended, Jake DeBrusk still wants to be traded, etc. All happy things.
• To add an extra layer of panic to the mix, Patrice Bergeron didn’t practice on Wednesday; however, it was later revealed to be a maintenance day.
• The Predators have had an up-and-down stretch over their last four games: a 6-0 win over Columbus, a 6-2 loss to Colorado, a 3-2 win over Anaheim, and a 5-2 loss to Las Vegas.
• The Bruins and Predators are similarly matched in the offensive and defensive departments: Nashville is allowing 2.86 goals per game to the Bruins’ 2.79 goals per game, and the Predators are scoring 2.86 goals per game to the Bruins’ 2.95. So...3-3 game that goes to a shootout? Sounds good!
• The Predators have a top-10 power play, but have been vulnerable on the penalty kill — their 78.6% kill rate is 24th in the league.
• The Bruins and Predators last played each other in January of 2020, a 6-2 Bruins win in Nashville. The B’s got goals from six different players and 33 saves from Tuukka Rask. His Finnish countryman Pekka Rinne was in the opposite net that night, but he has since retired.
• I haven’t been in the arena for a game, but Nashville is a fun place to visit. The arena is located right on the main strip of touristy bars, so there’s plenty to do. Add it to your list (outside of a pandemic, that is).

See ya tonight!