NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Linus Ullmark made 32 saves and had an assist on Charlie Coyle’s short-handed, winning goal in the third period to lead the Boston Bruins a 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha each had a goal and and assist in the big final period as the Bruins won for the third time in four games and extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to four points over Florida, which lost at Montreal.
Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville, which has lost three straight. The skid follows a franchise-record 18-game point streak (16-0-2).
The shutout was the second of the season and eighth of Ullmark’s career.
Coyle broke the tie with 6:42 remaining. Ullmark stopped a Nashville dump in behind the net and rimmed a pass up ice to Brad Marchand who was just inside the Nashville blue line. From the left boards, he found Coyle skating through the slot and he beat Saros high to the glove side.
Boston’s tenacious penalty kill denied Nashville on all four of its power plays, limiting the Predators to three shots on goal with the man advantage.
Zacha doubled the Boston lead with 2:42 remaining and Pastrnak closed out the scoring with his 46th of the season.
The Predators maintain the top spot in the battle for the Western Conference’s two wild-card berths, leading the second-place Los Angeles Kings by three points and the third-place St. Louis Blues by six.
Nashville’s best opportunity to score came with 4:33 remaining in the second period when captain Roman Josi’s shot from the left circle hit the near post.
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