Boston Bruins: 3 stars from shutout victory in the Music City

The Boston Bruins shut out the Nashville Predators 5-0 on Thursday night on the conclusion of a two-game road trip.

This was the first matchup of the season between the Bruins and the Preds as the Bruins swept the season series 2-0 last season.

It was also the first shutout by the Bruins since the 4-0 shutout against the San Jose Sharks on January 22 and the 5th shutout from the B’s this season.

Brad Marchand scored the first goal of the game for the Bruins in the 1st period. The Bruins had a strong second period with three goals including from Craig Smith and Derek Forbort.

1. Jeremy Swayman gets his 2nd shutout of the season for the Boston Bruins

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman had his 2nd shutout of the season and 7th shutout of his career in the win against the Preds.

Swayman turned away 28 shots in the win, where it’s his most amount of saves since the Overtime loss against the Florida Panthers on January 28th where he made 33 saves.

Swayman’s other shutout this season was on January 16th where the Bruins shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0. Coincidentally, Swayman also made 29 saves in the performance.

Swayman was not pleased with the Predators fans when one of them threw a catfish on the ice near the end of the 2nd period.

This was not the first time that Swayman has shut out the Predators. He was the goaltender for the 2-0 shutout against the Predators on December 2nd, 2021 where he turned away all 42 shots on goal. This is the only team that he has done this multiple times against.

This was an improvement from Swayman after losing his last couple of starts against the Capitals and the Panthers, and will look to improve the next time he gets in between the pipes.

2. Boston Bruins finally score on a power play due to Patrice Bergeron

Entering this game the Bruins had not scored on the power play since January 18th against the New York Islanders, which was seven games ago. The Bruins broke that streak in this game in the 2nd period when Patrice Bergeron scored the power-play goal.

This was Bergeron’s 19th goal of the season and he was assisted by Hampus Lindholm and Taylor Hall.

Bergeron also assisted Marchand on the 1st goal of the game, which is a good luck charm for the Black & Gold this season as they have a 27-0-3 record when they score the first goal of the game. This was Bergeron’s 21st assist of this season.

3. Hampus Lindholm gets 200th assist

Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm had two assists in the win against the Predators, in which those two assists made his 200th assist of his career.

His first assist was the goal by Bergeron with Taylor Hall in the 2nd period, and the other assist was a 3rd period goal by Trent Frederic where he was also joined by Nick Foligno, who also had two assists in this game.

Lindholm has had an assist in three out of the last four games, including games against the Maple Leafs and the Stars. His last multi-point game was in the shutout against the Sharks, and his last multi-assist game was the 3-1 win against the New Jersey Devils on December 28th.

The Boston Bruins will head back to TD Garden for a quick two-game against the New York Islanders and the Ottawa Senators before going out west for a four-game road trip across t2he northwest.