Predators pull away in 3rd, defeat slumping Bruins

BOSTON -- Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist, and Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists for the Nashville Predators in a 6-3 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday.

Jonathan Marchessault, Tommy Novak and Mark Jankowski scored, and Luke Evangelista had two assists for the Predators (22-32-7), who finished 1-2-0 on their three-game road trip. Juuse Saros made 18 saves.

“We had a really good first period, and we didn’t get down after giving up some goals,” Stamkos said. “We had good responses, and that’s a good sign to build off of. We knew that’s a desperate team battling for their playoff lives, so to have that type of effort was great.”

Nashville had scored seven goals in its past five games (1-4-0).

“It was nice to score some goals,” O’Reilly said. “It’s a lot more fun when pucks are going in the net. I thought we started the game better, a little more consistent. They had momentum at times, but we didn’t break, kept fighting through it, so it was a good win. Anytime you can score five or six goals against a team, everyone feels better about themselves. I know I do, and 'Stammer' was outstanding tonight, and [Evangelista] too, making some great plays, so we had some fun out there tonight.”

Charlie Coyle, Jordan Oesterle and Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins (28-27-8), who are 1-5-2 in their past eight games. Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves.

"We didn't execute that well tonight," Boston coach Joe Sacco said. "I mean, when you look at some of the plays that we made with the puck, like I said before, I just think that ... areas we expect to be better in, we weren't."

Coyle gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 4:25 of the first period, burying a shot in front after Elias Lindholm knocked the puck away from Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney behind the net.

Novak quickly responded to tie it 1-1 at 5:32. He scored blocker side from the right circle after Pavel Zacha turned the puck over while trying to curl out through the middle of the zone.

O’Reilly gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 11:33. Stamkos collected a loose puck just inside the offensive zone and dropped it to Evangelista, who quickly moved it to O’Reilly in the left circle for a shot past the lunging blocker of Swayman.

Oesterle tied it 2-2 at 5:08 of the second period when his backdoor pass for Zacha deflected in off the stick of Predators forward Fedor Svechkov. It was his first goal since Dec. 29, 2022.

Stamkos put the Predators back in front 3-2 at 6:25. O’Reilly made a cross-ice pass from along the right boards to Stamkos for a one-timer from the left circle.

“Great pass,” Stamkos said. “We talked a little bit before the game about spreading the ice in the O-zone, and it worked out great.”

Geekie tied it 3-3 with his 20th goal of the season at 5:35 of the third period.

However, Nashville regained a 4-3 lead at 8:28 when Marchessault tapped in a backhand centering pass from Michael McCarron.

"Giving up the lead is tough, especially those goals we scored were tying goals,” said Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who had two assists. “In a tight game, we could have grabbed momentum after our goals, but unfortunately it went the other way. It’s not the first time it’s happened this season, so it’s definitely a momentum killer, and you can’t win hockey games like that.”

O’Reilly scored his second goal of the game 63 seconds later to make it 5-3 at 9:31. He batted in a saucer pass from Stamkos over the right shoulder of Swayman on a rush.

It was Stamkos' 600th NHL assist.

“It’s special,” Stamkos said. “Any time you get to round numbers in the NHL, it’s good. I’ve been blessed to play with so many great players throughout my career, and that’s a testament to them. Especially when you’re getting assists, that means guys have to finish and score. Tonight was great, and any time you can do something like that in a win you feel much better about yourself.”

Jankowski scored an empty-net goal at 17:52 for the 6-3 final.

“It shows the resolve of our group,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’ve been resilient all year, but it hasn’t shown up in the wins and losses, and unfortunately it’s too many losses, but we’ve never given up, and that’s what we’re most proud of with the group. ... The hardest part in this game is to show your character when things aren’t going well, and things haven’t gone well, but we show our character that we don’t quit. For that, you usually get rewarded at some point, and we got rewarded tonight.”

NOTES: It was Stamkos' 105th three-point game, which is the sixth-most among active players, behind Sidney Crosby (185), Alex Ovechkin (138), Connor McDavid (133), Evgeni Malkin (117) and Patrick Kane (110). ... Pastrnak extended his home point streak to 12 games (10 goals, 14 assists).