Jake DeBrusk and Brandon Carlo each scored a goal, Jeremy Swayman made a career-high 42 saves in his first shutout of the season and the Boston Bruins blanked the host Nashville Predators 2-0 on Thursday night.
DeBrusk recorded his fourth goal of the season, and it came two games after the fifth-year left winger requested a trade. It was DeBrusk’s first goal since Nov. 13 and just his second in 15 games dating back to Oct. 24.
Carlo contributed his second goal of the season for the Bruins, who have now won six of their last nine.
Swayman improved to 7-4-0 and recorded his third career shutout in his 21st start over two seasons.
Juuse Saros stopped 31 of 33 shots for the Predators to drop to 10-8-1 this season.
Nashville was shut out for just the second time this season; the other was a 3-0 loss at Toronto on Nov. 16.
DeBrusk opened the scoring at 14:38 of the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Craig Smith and firing a wrist shot from the left circle to beat Saros high stick-side. The goal came with one second left on a Boston power play.
Carlo doubled the Bruins’ lead 30 seconds into the second. The defenseman unleashed a slap shot from the top of the right circle off a feed from Erik Haula to beat a screened Saros.
Boston defenseman Jakub Zboril was helped off the ice early in the second period after taking a hit into the boards from Predators left winger Tanner Jeannot.
The Bruins played their second straight game without coach Bruce Cassidy (COVID-19 protocol) and left winger Brad Marchand (suspension). Marchand, who received a three-game ban for slew-footing, is eligible to return for Boston’s game at Vancouver next Wednesday.
Boston returns home to face defending champion Tampa Bay on Saturday night. Nashville remains home to host Montreal on Saturday night.
–Field Level Media
