“We needed that break,’’ coach Claude Julien said. “It probably would have been a real tough loss had we not been able to come up with a win with the way we played this afternoon.
“He found a way to get us back into it. He did it the hard way. At the end of the night, we got ourselves a win.’’
After a 6-0 dud Wednesday in Buffalo, the Bruins went through the paces in practices. They are facing their most wicked grind of 2011-12 - a home match Tuesday against the Rangers, then a six-game road swing that kicks off the following night in Montreal.
But rather than resting the players’ legs, the coaching staff was determined to jack up the competitive heat in practice. In yesterday’s game, which followed two high-level practices, the Bruins won puck races, battled with fire in the corners, and applied themselves in the most crucial situations.
“The last two practices were the way we need to compete and battle and play,’’ said Bergeron. “I think we brought that this afternoon.
“It was frustrating. It was not even close to the effort we were supposed to be giving. We turned it around, I think. We know we still have more of a job to do. But it’s one step forward.’’
The Bruins’ regulation goals captured the spirit of what they had been trying to do. In the first period, after the Bruins were nabbed with too many men on the ice, the Predators went on their first power play.
Brad Marchand made Nashville pay.
On the penalty kill, Marchand carried the puck from deep in the Boston zone. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, Nashville’s twin towers, converged on him. Instead of acceding and dumping the puck deep, Marchand went on the attack. He flipped the puck to himself and split the defenders.
Rinne cleared the puck, but Marchand tracked it down and waited for Bergeron, who had just rolled over the boards. When Bergeron cut into scoring position, Marchand laid a drop pass for his center. Bergeron immediately snapped a shot high blocker on Rinne at 16:00 to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
“I know how strong on the puck he is, but also how nifty he is at making those moves,’’ Bergeron said. “On the play, he knew he had a step on those two defensemen. He tried to put it into an area where he could skate into it.
