Bruins power-play provides offense in 6-2 win over Predators

Adam McQuaid vs Eric Nystrom on December 23, 2013.

The Bruins came out strong and had a 3-0 lead after the first period but the Predators would come back and be down one goal in the third period. But the Bruins didn't let up and added three more goals in the third period to put away the Predators. The Bruins power-play came alive tonight, scoring on all three power-play opportunities.

Quick game summary
In the first period, 1:16 into the game, Bruins Jarome Iginla scored his 9th goal of the season, making it 1-0 Bruins. Bruins Adam McQuaid, who finally returned to the lineup tonight, dropped the gloves with Predators Eric Nystrom and they had a good fight with both guys landing punches. Less than five minutes later, Bruins Matt Fraser scored his 1st goal of the season and 1st as a member of the Bruins, making it 2-0 Bruins. The Predators then changed goalies as it was a bad goal given up goalie Carter Hutton. Fraser scored from a bad rebound given up by Hutton on a Carl Soderberg shot from the blue line. Later in the period, Bruins Reilly Smith scored his 12th goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 3-0 Bruins.

In the second period, Predators Craig Smith scored a power-play goal, making it 3-1.

In the third period, Predators Craig Smith scored, making it 3-2. Less than two minutes later, Bruins Jarome Iginla scored his 10th goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 4-2 Bruins. And 49 seconds later, Bruins Carl Soderberg scored his 5th goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 5-2 Bruins. Later in the period, Bruins Brad Marchand scored his 8th goal of the season, making it 6-2 Bruins.

Game notes
Tuukka Rask played in net for the Bruins and made 32 saves on 34 shots. Rask is now 19-8-2 with a 1.87 GAA and a .936 save percentage this season.

The Bruins led the game in hits 13-12, faceoff wins 32-29 and blocked shots 19-7. The Predators led the game in shots 34-33. The Bruins went 3-for-3 on the power-play while the Predators went 1-for-2.

Reilly Smith and Carl Soderberg both had 1 goal and 2 assists. Ryan Spooner finished with 3 assists. Jarome Iginla scored 2 goals.

Ryan Spooner led the Bruins with 6 shots. Milan Lucic and Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins with 3 hits each. Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins with 5 blocked shots.

Player notes
With Adam McQuaid returning to the lineup, Matt Bartkowski was scratched.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 25-10-2 with 52 points and in 1st place in the Atlantic Division. The next game for the Bruins is on Friday, December 27th when the Bruins host the Ottawa Senators in Boston at 7pm ET.

Happy Holidays everyone!
Make sure to be safe and have fun during the holiday season.