Preds Conclude Road Trip with Loss to Bruins

The Christmas break couldn't have arrived soon enough.
A 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday sent the Nashville Predators limping into the holiday period, a reprieve they've likely had circled on the calendar for a while now with not one, not two, but four key players now on Injured Reserve.
The result sees the Preds go winless in their four-game road trip as their record away from home stands at 0-8-2 in their last 10 outings.

At times on Saturday, Nashville played the way they're capable of skating, putting shot after shot on the Boston net. But, between penalties taken and mistakes made, they ended up on the wrong side of the ledger once more.
"We played well enough to win a game, we made enough mistakes to lose a hockey game," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "Right now, where we're at, especially on the road, it's about those one or two or three extra things in the course of a game that we could clean up that we're in control of and we could be better, so it wasn't a lack of effort. Our guys competed hard today, but it's a mistake here, it's a penalty that we shouldn't take there, it's execution of a penalty kill or shift 5-on-5, it's little things and that's what they say it takes to win on the road."
If there's a positive, the Predators are expected to get P.K. Subban and Viktor Arvidsson, who have missed the last 40 games combined, back in the lineup shortly after the four-day break.
"We just have to regroup over the break," Nashville center Kyle Turris said. "We're working hard, we just have to find a way to get through it, push through it and we will. It's no question, it's trying to figure out over the break here."
Patrice Bergeron returned to the Boston lineup on Saturday and gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The score temporarily swelled to 2-0 for the home team in the second, until the Nashville coaching staff asked referees Dan O'Rourke and Frederick L'Ecuyer for a second opinion.
After winning the challenge for goaltender interference, Ryan Johansen threw his sixth of the season past goaltender Jaroslav Halak to even the score at 1-1 after 40 minutes.

Boston got a power-play goal early in the third to go up 2-1. Turris scored to tie the game and give the Preds life once more at 9:17. But the Bruins, who controlled the puck for the majority of the contest, broke through with a power-play goal, a 2-on-1 score and an empty-netter in the game's final nine minutes.
"We played good at times and played bad at times," Preds defenseman Ryan Ellis said. "We get lulls in our game, and we just need to compete for the whole 60 minutes. That's what we always preach, and that's what every team looks to do. At times we were great, and at other times we weren't."
Outside of the opening period in Ottawa on Monday, the effort and compete level has predominantly been there for Nashville, and yet they went 0-3-0 to close out the trip (losing 2-1 to Chicago; 2-1 to Philadelphia and 5-2 to Boston).
Now with the break arriving, the Preds have no choice but to recharge and refocus before getting back on the ice after the holiday.
"It's good that we get the break here, get your mind out of this little rut we're in and enjoy some family and some time away from the game," Ellis said. "Hopefully, we come back hungrier and rested, maybe a bit healthier than we are now and go from there."
Notes:
Defenseman Mattias Ekholm returned to the Predators lineup after missing Thursday's game in Philadelphia due to illness.
Forwards Colton Sissons, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg, as well as defenseman P.K. Subban, were absent on Saturday and all remain on Injured Reserve.
Blueliner Yannick Weber was injured in the final period of Saturday's game and required assistance to exit the ice.
The Christmas Break has arrived for the Predators, who will now get the next four days off before returning to the ice on Dec. 27 as they host the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena.