The Boston Bruins will embark on another short three game road trip this week and it will begin tonight in Nashville as the Predators await the struggling Bruins.

The B’s have recently dropped two straight at home to the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators as well as seven of their last nine games overall.

Help may be on the way as David Krejci will reportedly make the trip for the Black and Gold, but most likely will be a game-time decision Tuesday night. Krejci has missed 19 games with a lower-body injury.

During the 2013-2014 season, the B’s won both games against the Predators. Claude Julien’s bunch will take a 6-7-0 record on the road, including 1-4-1 in their last six games, while the Predators are 11-2-1 on home ice. The Black and Gold own a 5-5-0 record since 2006 in Nashville.

If it wasn’t hard enough for the B’s to light the lamp, they will be staring down Pekka Rinne tonight in Nashville who owns a stingy 1.75 goals against average as well as 19 wins and three shutouts.

Here is your complete Bruins-Predators preview:

Gametime: 8:00 PM
Records: Bruins 15-13-2, 32 points/Predators 19-8-2, 40 points
TV/Radio: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Location: Bridgestone Arena

Bruins’ projected lines:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Matt Fraser-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-Craig Cunningham
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Seth Griffith

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Zach Trotman
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg

Predators’ projected lines

Filip Forsberg-Mike Ribeiro-James Neal
Matt Cullen-Mike Fisher-Craig Smith
Colin Wilson-Calle Jarnkrok-Olli Jokinen
Eric Nystrom-Derek Roy-Gabriel Bourque

Roman Josi-Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm-Ryan Ellis
Anton Volchenkov-Seth Jones

Pekka Rinne
Carter Hutton

Who to watch for Bruins: Loui Eriksson

It’s possible that Loui Eriksson is responding to his critics recently. With Tyler Seguin leading the NHL in goals leaving Boston Bruins fans weeping, Eriksson has been missing in action for most of the season. But, in his last three games, Eriksson has scored two goals.

It’s a start for Eriksson who now has five goals and 10 assists on the season. The right-winger is starting to put the puck on net more, something he wasn’t doing earlier on.

Playing over 18 minutes per night, Eriksson needs to play more like his last three games instead of his prior 12 games where he went scoreless. The Swedish forward is a big part of this team and there is even more pressure on him now to produce now that Seguin is making all of the hockey headlines.

Eriksson has success against Pekka Rinne and the Predators in his career. In 25 games, he has nine goals and 11 assists with a plus-12 rating. But, in his last game against the Predators, Eriksson had zero points and only two shots on net.

Let’s see which Eriksson comes to show up in Nashville tonight. The B’s know which one they need desperately.

VIDEO: Tim Rosenthal shares his thoughts on the Seguin trade one year later on Bruins Daily TV (taped on December 3rd)

Who to watch for Predators: Filip Forsberg

We all know that the Bruins need to contain Shea Weber and make Pekka Rinne uncomfortable because those are two very important pieces to the Predators. But, the Black and Gold cannot forget about Filip Forsberg.

Forsberg leads the loaded Predators with 29 points (12 G, 17 A) in 29 games. He leads the NHL with a plus-24 rating as well as four game-winning tallies.

In his last five games, the 20 year-old rookie has two goals and four assists. The 11th overall pick in 2012 is clicking on all cylinders at the moment and it could spell trouble for the B’s as their defense is having breakdowns more often than usual as of late.

We could go right down the list of players to watch such as: James Neal, Shea Weber, Mike Ribeiro and Pekka Rinne, but Forsberg is the player that needs to be held in check, just look at his numbers and play-making ability.

Game day edge: Draw penalties and get the power-play going

It is a well-known fact that the Bruins do not draw penalties. They are actually last in the NHL by a large margin. But, even when they are on the power-play, the team isn’t capitalizing resulting in the funk that they are in as of late.

On their last 21 power-plays, the B’s have scored once. Not having Zdeno Chara in front of the net for most of those could be the reason why, but now he is back and havoc must be wreaked.

The Black and Gold need to be physical around the net, get to those dirty areas and score a goal on the power-play in Rinne’s personal space. That’s when the B’s are playing at their best. We just haven’t seen that lately.

If David Krejci can lace them up tonight, it will be a big boost to the power-play, in addition to having Chara back in the fold. It’s no secret that these two players are a big part of the team’s special teams.

The B’s will need to find ways to win in Nashville where the Predators are almost unbeatable. Capitalizing on their power-play opportunities would be a great start.