Game Preview: Bruins at Predators
By DJ Smith
The Boston Bruins will invade Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night in what could be a battle of the goaltenders. Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne are two of the best goalies in the NHL, but its Rinne that is catching everyone by surprise. His skill levels were high but no one thought he could be this good for Nashville.
Nashville is going to enter the contest at a 19-8-2 record and is currently two points behind St. Louis for the second seed in the Central division. A big reason why the Predators have been so good is because of Rinne’s goaltending, he leads the NHL in goals against at an astounding 1.9 per game. Along with Rinne, the play of Filip Forsberg has sparked the Predators offense so far this season racking up 12 goals and 17 assists. Along with James Neal who has registered 11 goals this season, the Predators has put the NHL on notice as a possible threat for the Stanley Cup come June.
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The Bruins are coming off two tough losses against the Senators (lost 3-2 in a shootout) and then last Thursday they lost a nail biter against the Blackhawks. This season the Bruins have been treading water, barley staying above the .500 record. Goalie Tuukka Rask voiced his frustrations to the Bruins website saying that enough is enough:
"“We’ve been talking about it enough, and it’s not going to get any better if we keep talking about it. We’ve just got to bury our heads down and work hard, and good things are going to happen. But it’s really frustrating when you look at these mistakes and stuff we’re doing out there, night in and night out.”"
The Bruins are still without star center David Krejci who is still missing in action with an undisclosed injury, although reports are that he made the trip to Nashville so he could suit up if ready. If Krejci cannot suit up it will most likely be Craig Cunningham who gets the nod, his third straight start.
If there is anything that can spark a team to start playing better, it has to be stellar goaltending and Tuukka Rask has given them adequate goaltending recently. While he has been better, he is certainly not the blame for the Bruins woes this season. Spotty offensive production can be the blame for the Bruins mild start to the 2014-2015 campaign, and only when they find their offensive firepower back, is when they will return to the dominate team that Boston has grown to know in recent years.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Tuukka Rask stood on his head and the Bruins squeaked one out Tuesday night. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tuukka Rask stood on his head and the Bruins still manage to lose this one. It depends what Bruins team shows up Tuesday night.
The Bruins and Predators can be seen on NESN starting at 8:00pm and can also be heard on 98.5 the Sports Hub.