BOSTON (AP) — James van Riemsdyk broke a tie with his second goal of the game early in the third period, David Pastrnak scored on a penalty shot, and the Boston Bruins beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Saturday night.
Both of van Riemsdyk’s goals — his first two in his initial season with the Bruins — came on a power play.
“Anytime you get your first one, it definitely helps you relax a little bit,” he said. “We moved the puck around pretty well and we made good plays just to get the puck to the net. We kept it simple and tried to get traffic down there and, obviously, we got rewarded.”
Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves in his season debut for Boston (2-0), which killed seven penalties.
Colton Sissons scored both goals for the Predators (1-2) and Juuse Saros made 28 stops. Saros has played all their games so far this season.
“I think both sides of the special teams left wanting more tonight,” Sissons said. “We had a lot of opportunities on the power play, but we've got to do our job on the penalty kill.”
Nashville went 0 for 7 on the power play.
“That’s why we got that win,” Swayman said. “It was special to see guys stick to a game plan and not get down on themselves when we get penalty after penalty.”
Positioned in the slot, van Riemsdyk tipped in Charlie McAvoy’s shot for the go-ahead goal 2:52 into the final period.
Pastrnak’s goal — his third of the season — came with 5:14 left in the second, giving the Bruins a 2-1 edge. Pastrnak was awarded a penalty shot after Alexandre Carrier held his stick on a clean breakaway. Pastrnak slowly skated down the center and fired a wrist shot over Saros’ left shoulder.
Nashville tied it with the goalie pulled for a delayed Boston penalty when Sissons tipped in Roman Josi’s shot from the point at 16:54.
Coming off a shutout win over Seattle in their home opener, the Predators grabbed a 1-0 edge when Sissons one-timed Kiefer Sherwood’s drop pass inside the left post 3:29 into the game.
Boston tied it on van Riemsdyk’s first goal at 14:48. He was attempting to center a pass from the side of the net when it caromed in off Nashville defenseman Dante Fabbro.
With Nashville on a power play midway through the second period, Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort knocked the puck out of the crease just before it crossed the goal line.
“When you lose the special team battle, it’s hard to win in this league,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We lost it pretty big time tonight.”
NEW PACE
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery feels like the Predators have a different approach this season after missing the playoffs.
“They’re much more of a fastbreak team, more of a transition team than they were before,” he said.
NOTES: Swayman went 26-6-4 with a 2.27 goals-against-average last season. … Nashville defenseman Luke Schenn missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … The Bruins held Nashville to just one shot on goal with forward Jakub Lauko in the box on a double-minor penalty for high sticking midway into the second.
UP NEXT
Predators: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
Bruins: Play their first road game of the season at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Ken Powtak, The Associated Press