Ellis OT goal lifts Predators past Bruins

BOSTON -- Ryan Ellis scored with 55 seconds left in overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.

Roman Josi scored two goals, Ryan Johansen had three assists and Pekka Rinne made 29 saves for the Predators (17-12-6), who went 3-0-1 on their road trip.
"It was a huge road trip for us," said Josi, who had six goals and an assist on the four-game trip. "I think nobody on this team was happy with the way we were playing and the position we were. We're still not happy where we are in the standings, so we got to keep pushing. But yeah, it was definitely a huge road trip, a lot of games in seven days and seven out of eight points is pretty good, so we're happy with the road trip."
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Bruins highlights]
Patrice Bergeron scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 1:05 left in the third period for the Bruins (21-8-8), who are 0-0-3 in their past three games and 1-4-4 in their past nine since an eight-game winning streak.
"I mean you know it [stinks] obviously, it's a bit frustrating you know," Bruins forward David Pastrnak said. "We want to win and we're in the game, the last couple games, it's just about that one goal and we can't get it right now. So we have one more game before Christmas, so we're going to do everything we can get to get the win before the break."
Par Lindholm gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:30 of the first period after a scramble for a loose rebound of a Brett Ritchie shot in front.
Josi tied the score 1-1 with a backhand goal during a 4-on-4 at 12:14.

Bergeron scored a power-play goal at 19:12 to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
Filip Forsberg scored at 7:35 of the third period with an extra skater on for a delayed penalty to tie the score 2-2. Forsberg was on the goal line when he tried to bring the puck to the front, and it deflected off Lindholm's stick and over Halak's shoulder.
Josi's goal at 8:10 gave Nashville a 3-2 lead. The Predators defenseman raced Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak to the puck at the top of the left circle then fired a shot into the empty net.
"I was first to the puck," Halak said. "You know it's just one of those plays that bounced the other way and he was able to put it in. Just maybe a simple mistake, but it happens, it happens to anyone. Too bad … when a goalie makes a mistake, there's nobody that can actually cover him most of the time."

With Halak (25 saves) pulled for the extra attacker, Bergeron scored his second goal on a tip of a David Pastrnak shot at 18:55 to tie the score 3-3.
Johansen retrieved his own missed shot behind the Boston net and set up Ellis for the game-winning one-timer from the slot.
"I mean the lane just kind of opened up, heck of a play by [Johansen] recognizing it, a good sauce play. And all in all, a great game for us," Ellis said.

They said it

"He was awesome. He's definitely at the front of the rope trying to pull us in the right direction, so tonight was another example of that. -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on defenseman Roman Josi
"I've said that before, you can't just enjoy when things are good and when things are bad just jump ship. That's too easy. I've said that before, it's a long season and hopefully these things make you stronger and that's when you have to be behind each other and support each other and find ways. And I think I wouldn't want to do it with any different group." -- Bruins center Patrice Bergeron

Need to know

The Predators and Bruins are each 2-4 in games decided during the five-minute overtime. … Josi is on a career-long four-game goal streak. He's tied with John Carlson of the Washington Capitals for most goals by an NHL defenseman (13). … Rinne tied Evgeni Nabokov and Rogie Vachon for 20th on the NHL goalie wins list (353). … Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson returned after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury, and Mikael Granlund returned after missing four games with a lower-body injury. … Pastrnak and Bruins defenseman Torey Krug each has a four-game point streak (two goals, three assists).

What's next

Predators:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Bruins: Host the Washington Capitals on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, NESN, SN, NHL.TV)