Pastrnak scores in OT, Bruins defeat Predators for 9th win in 11 games

BOSTON -- David Pastrnak scored 15 seconds into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at TD Garden on Tuesday.

Pastrnak won it with a redirection in the crease off Charlie McAvoy’s backhand feed from the right face-off circle on a give-and-go.

“It wasn’t ideal to be in overtime to begin with, but good teams come back, and we responded well to get it quick,” Pastrnak said. “It was a great play, a great face-off win to get possession, so it was a big win for our group.”

Pastrnak added an assist, Morgan Geekie scored to reach the 30-goal mark for the second consecutive season, and Hampus Lindholm also scored for the Bruins (31-20-3), who lost 4-3 in overtime at the New York Rangers on Monday and are 9-1-1 in their past 11 games. Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves.

“It’s special,” Geekie said of the milestone. “I was never really somebody who was supposed to score goals, so it’s always fun. I haven’t had this much fun playing hockey in my career since coming here (before the 2023-24 season), so coming to the rink every day with a great group of guys, a great organization, I just keep trying to build my game at both ends of the rink.”

Roman Josi and Nick Blankenburg scored for the Predators (24-23-5), who have lost four of five. Juuse Saros made 25 saves.

“It’s hard to say (it’s) one thing because every game is different,” Josi, the Nashville captain, said of the recent stretch for his team. “There have been some games when we didn’t start on time and that inconsistency has crept in a little bit, just not playing our style for 60 minutes.”

Lindholm, who was added to Team Sweden’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 as an injury replacement earlier Tuesday, gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 13:16 of the first period. The defenseman took a cross-ice pass from Mason Lohrei and scored with a wrist shot from the left point that ricocheted off the glove of Predators forward Matthew Wood and knuckled past Saros on the stick side.

Geekie increased the lead to 2-0 at 2:48 of the second period. Pastrnak held off three defenders at the offensive blue line before moving the puck to Geekie along the left wall. Geekie then broke in alone and beat Saros high glove with a sharp-angled shot from low in the left circle.

“I was holding on to the puck because I didn’t see anything,” Pastrnak said, “and he made great communication calling for it and I just trusted his voice. It was a heck of a shot, a goal-scorer’s goal against a great goaltender. I told him after he scored 30 I’m not even getting him the puck. I get it after he scores 40.”

With an assist on the play, Pastrnak extended his point streak to eight games (three goals, 11 assists).

Josi’s power-play goal at 19:25 cut the deficit to 2-1. His one-timer from high in the right circle beat Swayman high on the short side.

“It was nice to come back after being down 2-0,” Josi said. “We played pretty well in the third period and wish we had two (points), but it was good to come back and get one point.”

Blankenburg tied it 2-2 at 13:17 of the third period when his wrist shot from the point beat a screened Swayman.

“It was a gutsy third period,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “Obviously, a little too inconsistent the first two periods in stretches. We didn’t love the early part of our game. We kind of got going in the second and it was back and forth, but in the third we got to our game and started playing to our identity. Unfortunately, they got the puck first and win in overtime.”

With the Northeast dealing with a major weekend snowstorm, the Bruins were forced to stay in New York after the game Monday and travel home by bus Tuesday, arriving in Boston at 1:30 p.m.

“Not ideal for [a] back-to-back, but that was the card we were dealt, and I’m proud of the group the way we handled that and kept a positive mindset,” Pastrnak said.

Bruins forward Elias Lindholm exited the game with an upper-body injury late in the second period and did not return. Boston coach Marco Sturm did not have an update after the game and said Lindholm will be examined again Wednesday morning.

NOTES: Pastrnak scored the fifth-fastest goal to start an overtime period in Bruins history, behind Bob Sweeney (eight seconds; Nov. 24, 1988), Brad Marchand (10 seconds; March 8, 2016), Joe Thornton (12 seconds; Oct. 25, 2001) and Eddie Wiseman (12 seconds; Feb. 4, 1941). … Geekie has 30 goals in 53 games this season after scoring a career-high 33 in 77 games last season. … Boston forward Fraser Minten had an assist, giving him 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past 14 games.