"Really excited, happy to be back in there," Rinne said. "Just a good opportunity for me to get back. The last couple days, last couple games, it was a good time for me to regroup and refocus and just get ready for the last stretch run and just work hard."
Rinne is 3-0-1 against Boston in his career with a 2.32 goals-against average and .928 save percentage. He said he's not worried about rust creeping into his game with the time off.
"There are so many games, it's not like you lose your thoughts on the ice or game conditioning or something like that," Rinne said. "It's fun to get back out there, and I think it was the right decision. [Hutton] was playing really well and we needed points and he got us some points. It gave me time to work hard and regroup and refocus, so I'm just excited to get back out there again."
Nashville will mark the fifth stop on a six-game road trip for the Bruins. They have gone 3-1-0 so far and have been led offensively by forward Loui Eriksson, who has scored one goal in each game of the past four games. Eriksson scored in overtime against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
"It's always fun to score goals," Eriksson said. "It was nice to get the overtime goal there, and it was fun that it was in my 700th game too. It's pretty cool little milestone to get, and hopefully I can get some more here going forward."
Here are the projected lineups:
BRUINS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson - David Krejci - Jimmy Hayes
Matt Beleskey - Ryan Spooner - David Pastrnak
Landon Ferraro - Max Talbot - Tyler Randell
Zdeno Chara - Zach Trotman
Torey Krug - Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg - Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson
Injured: Chris Kelly (leg)
Scratched: Zac Rinaldo, Joe Morrow
PREDATORS
Calle Jarnkrok - Ryan Johansen - James Neal
Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - Craig Smith
Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - Viktor Arvidsson
Miikka Salomaki - Paul Gaustad - Austin Watson
Roman Josi - Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm - Ryan Ellis
Anthony Bitetto - Barret Jackman
Pekka Rinne
Carter Hutton
Injured: Eric Nystrom (broken foot)
Scratched: Petter Granberg, Cody Bass
Status report: The Bruins and Predators held optional morning skates. … Bergeron had a maintenance day Wednesday and is expected to play. … The Predators sent forward Gabriel Bourque to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League on Wednesday on a long-term injury loan. Bourque has been out with an upper-body injury since he left a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 27.
Who's hot: Eriksson has scored in four consecutive games. … Forsberg has five goals in his past five games.
