• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Mason shines as Predators pound Bruins

Dec 31, 2006 - 6:15 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Chris Mason continues to do a fine impression of Tomas Vokoun.

Mason made 38 saves for his second shutout in four games as the Nashville Predators rolled to a 5-0 triumph over the Boston Bruins.

Making his 18th consecutive start in place of the injured Vokoun, Mason stopped 12 shots in each of the first two periods and 14 in the third en route to his fourth shutout of the season and seventh career.

Mason also posted a 34-save blanking against Los Angeles on December 23 and has allowed just five goals over his last four contests.

The victory was Nashville's third in its last four games and improved the Predators to 8-1-1 in the second of back-to-back games.

"I know that I didn't feel good about the game yesterday, and I know that the players didn't either," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said of his club's 4-1 loss at Dallas on Friday. "I thought that they responded with some good character toughness. They came though, and all the credit goes to them."

Paul Kariya, David Legwand and Jerred Smithson each had a goal and an assist while Jordin Tootoo set up a pair of tallies for the Predators, who have won eight of 10.

"We wanted to be more disciplined tonight, and the guys accounted for themselves and each other," said Legwand, who has three goals and four assists in his last seven games. "We made a good effort to throw pucks at the net, and we have to start doing that more and create more scoring chances."

Legwand gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 9:38 of the first period, when he skated in on a 2-on-1 with Kariya, took a pass in the slot and drilled a shot over goaltender Hannu Toivonen's blocker.

"(Defenseman Dan Hamhuis) made a good pass to Paul, and when you get the puck to Paul, you know he is going to do good things with it," Legwand said. "He found me, and I basically had an open net to put it into."

Making his first start since December 12, Toivonen made 20 saves for the Bruins, who outshot the Predators, 38-25, but lost for the second time in three games.

"I think you just have to be able to find the puck and give a better effort for the team," Toivonen said. "I'm just trying to move forward. We need to take the positive things out and remember we played a hard game but came up short."

The Bruins fell to 4-1-1 in their last six games.

"I thought we played a heck of a hockey game," Boston coach Dave Lewis said. "The result wasn't there, but we worked hard from the start until the very end.

"We made plays and had territorial control of the game for large portions, but the score and the result weren't right for us. It was one of those nights where you do a lot of things well, and it just didn't work out."