BOSTON — Viktor Arvidsson scored with 4:56 left, Roman Josi had two goals and the Nashville Predators beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Monday night.
Nashville won for just the third time in its last seven games.
Kevan Miller and Loui Eriksson scored for Boston. The Bruins had collected at least one point in each of their last eight games (6-0-2).
Boston’s Jonas Gustavsson made 30 saves in a matchup of backup goaltenders. Carter Hutton stopped 15 shots.
Arvidsson came flying down the left wing, circled around Miller and shifted around Gustavsson before firing the puck into the net for the tiebreaking score.
With James Neal in the penalty box for embellishment midway into the second period, the Bruins moved ahead 2-1 when Eriksson redirected Ryan Spooner’s cross-ice pass into the net from the edge of the crease just 8 seconds into the power play.
But Nashville struck nearly as quickly on its next power play. A pair of Bruins watched Josi skate past them down the right wing, and he cut in front of the net and slipped the puck behind Gustavsson 11 seconds into the man advantage.
Nashville had a pair of good chances to break the tie early in the third. Gustavsson came across to make a pad stop on Colin Wilson at the end of a 2-on-1 break. Neal hit a post with a wrist shot from the slot.
The Bruins jumped in front 4:13 into the first when Miller’s soft shot caromed off Nashville center Colton Sissons’ right skate and bounced over Hutton’s shoulder.
The Predators tied it on Josi’s power-play goal in the closing minute of the first.
Boston winger Tyler Randell sent Nashville’s Eric Nystrom flying to the ice and bloodied his face with a right-hand punch during a second-period fight that seemed to wake up the slumbering Bruins.
Boston was held without a shot on goal for nearly 7 minutes in the second before taking the lead on Eriksson’s score.
NOTES: Bruins veteran D Dennis Seidenberg and RW Jimmy Hayes were both healthy scratches for the second straight game. … Boston C Patrice Bergeron got an assist on Eriksson’s goal, tying Milt Schmidt for 11th on the club’s scoring list with his 575th point. … The teams meet just once more this season – in Nashville on Feb. 18.
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