BOSTON — Ryan Ellis scored with 54.2 seconds left in overtime to lift the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 win over the slumping Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
Roman Josi had two goals, Filip Forsberg also scored and Pekka Rinne stopped 29 shots to help Nashville finish a four-game road trip at 3-0-1.
Patrice Bergeron scored twice and Par Lindholm got the other goal for the Bruins, who have won just once in their last eight games (1-5-2). Jaroslav Halak finished with 25 saves.
Boston had been 10-3-1 all-time at home against Nashville.
Ellis beat Halak with a wrister from the bottom of the left circle after getting a pass from Ryan Johansen.
Bergeron tied it when he tipped Pastrnak’s shot from the left circle past Rinne with 65 seconds left in the third period. He nearly won it when he had a close flip shot from the edge of the crease with about 30 seconds left.
Trailing 2-1 in the third, the Predators tied it when – with Rinne off for an extra skater during a delayed penalty – Forsberg circled around the net and tucked the puck between Halak’s right pad and the post at 7:35.
Josi’s second of the game came 35 seconds later when Halak charged way out and dove to try to poke away a loose puck. The Predators’ captain got to it near the boards, turned and fired a shot into the wide-open net.
With Forsberg off for roughing late in the second period, Torey Krug made a backhand pass from along the boards to Bergeron in the slot, where he one-timed a shot inside the left post to give Boston a 2-1 lead with 47.7 seconds left in the period.
Lindholm made it 1-0 at 7:30 of the second when he skated hard to get his stick on the rebound of Brett Ritchie’s shot from the right circle. The puck trickled into the net off Predators defenseman Kyle Turris’ knee as he went to the ice with Lindholm.
Nashville tied it a little less than five minutes later when Josi slipped a backhander from the slot past Halak, who looked like he may have been screened when Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson cut in front of him.
NOTES: Bruins Coach Bruce Cassidy sat two-thirds of his fourth line, replacing David Backes and Joakim Nordstrom in the lineup with Ritchie and Lindholm. “Sometimes it’s a way to get certain players attention,” Cassidy said after the morning skate. “This is a little bit of that. I’m not putting it all on David Backes or Nordie. Let’s see where it leads us.” … Defensemen Josi (33 points) and Ryan Ellis (28) are the Predators’ top two scorers. … Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy turned 22 on Saturday. … Backes and Nordstrom were both dressed in festive Christmas suits sitting in the press box. … The teams meet again in Nashville on Jan. 7.
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