James van Riemsdyk scored twice on the power play as the Boston Bruins battled through numerous penalty kills and capitalized on the man-advantage to top the Nashville Predators, 3-2, tonight at the TD Garden.
Special teams and man-advantage situations reigned supreme for both teams — from van Riemsdyk’s two goals to Nashville’s tying goal on a delayed penalty to even David Pastrnak’s penalty shot.
It was a night of adversity, as the Bruins found themselves on penalty kill after penalty kill in the first 40 minutes of the game.
But the team’s power plays and penalty kills drove the game and provided the Bruins with big momentum changes, especially in the second period when they killed off Jakub Lauko’s four-minute high-sticking penalty.