Boston Bruins hoping to overcome the visiting Nashville Predators – NHL Preview
A humiliating loss against Buffalo Sabres will set next game’s tone for Boston Bruins, who are desperate to vent their frustration out as they get ready to host Nashville Predators in a National Hockey League (NHL) game on Saturday, February 11, 2012, at TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.
Boston was stunned by Sabres as the latter scored two goals each in all the three periods while the former struggled to score even a single goal.
The unexpected defeat has indeed annoyed Boston, which is ranked second in NHL Eastern Conference with 68 points after 52 games.
Boston’s coach, Claude Julien, deemed the loss a wake-up call and said that he is expecting much better performance from his players against Predators.
"I think that's certainly the start to what should be a wake-up call,” Julien said.
He added that:
"Obviously our guys have enough character in there. Just because you're going through a tough time doesn't mean you second-guess your team. We certainly don't. Everybody in that room cares. Right now it's about righting the ship with some better play from everybody."
Nashville should be ready to face two very tough challenges.
Firstly, it will have to deal with severe aggression from the Bruins.
Secondly, the Predators are going to enter this game with a two-game losing streak on their backs.
Nashville was beaten by Vancouver Canucks (4-3 in shootout) after which the Predators were hunted by Ottawa Senators (4-3).
Against Ottawa, Nashville managed a tough competition in the first period which ended at 1-1.
However, Senators scored two goals in the second period and one in the final to edge past Nashville.
The defence was very sloppy and gave away pretty easy opportunities, which became one of the most prominent reasons for the defeat.
After the loss, Predators’ goalie, Pekka Rinne said:
“Tonight, we just didn't play our game. We were probably a little bit too light (on the puck) and gave up a lot of odd-man rushes."
Nashville is currently ranked at fifth spot in the Western Conference with 69 points after 55 games.
Boston has the home-ice advantage, but if Predators improve on defence, the Bruins can get in trouble.
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