This time of the season, it goes without saying, victories are hard to come by. The Bruins turned in an effort Saturday that probably would have earned them a blowout victory two months ago, but instead got a hard-fought shootout win that they came 67 seconds away from losing in regulation. 

Given the way the previous 15 games had been (7-7-1) and the fact that they were coming off their worst loss of the season Wednesday in Buffalo, the B's needed two points any way they could get them, and they took the ice Saturday looking like a team that didn't want to get embarrassed. They dominated play and had the puck in the Nashville zone for the vast majority of regulation, yet with just over a minute left, they had their goalie pulled, desperately searching for the equalizer as they trailed, 3-2. 

"I think the way we played, it would have been frustrating if we would have lost," Brad Marchand said after the victory. "We had a great game. When you play that way, you expect to win. You deserve to win. It would have been a little upsetting if we didn't, but we did. We feel good."

With the game scoreless in the first period, Marchand put on a one-man show on the penalty kill, hustling through the neutral zone and into the Predators' zone before dropping off a pass for Patrice Bergeron, who sniped a wrist shot past Pekka Rinne for the Bruins' seventh goal of the season. The B's continued to dominate the first period and limited the Predators to just six shots on goal through the first 20 minutes. 

Yet despite controlling the play, the Bruins learned that the Predators, who are fifth in the Western Conference, can be efficient with limited opportunities. Nashville didn't manage to get a shot on goal in the second period until 7:32, but it was a scorching Shea Weber slap shot on a one-timer from the point on the power play. In nearly the same instance it was taken, it was in the back of Tim Thomas' net to tie the game. 

The third period proved to be the same story. The Bruins continued to keep the puck in the Nashville zone but were turned away by an abundance of blocked shots and stellar play from Rinne. The Predators couldn't get any pressure on Thomas until 9:33 in, when Patric Hornqvist scored on the team's first shot on goal of the period. Twice it took the Predators an extra-long time to get that first shot on goal, and it paid off both times. 

"I was doing the best I could to mentally stay in it," Thomas said after the game of dealing with the long stretches of little work. "The little stuff like when you get out to play the puck can help you to keep in the game, so I didn’t feel that bad actually through the first period. It got harder as we went on. We dominated so much in the early second period that I didn’t really get any action. So at that point it got harder and harder to get into a complete rhythm. But I was watching what was going on in front of me and I was happy to see us controlling the play and getting scoring chances, so it’s fine if I don’t get shots. It’s my job to be ready when I do get shots." 

Both of the aforementioned goals wiped out Bruins' leads, and the Predators took their first lead of the day when Mike Fisher sent a backhander past Thomas with just over three and a half minutes left in regulation. 

With less than two minutes to play, the Bruins found themselves on the power play on a Sergei Kostitsyn tripping penalty. 

As the seconds ticked away, the slumping Bruins seemed destined for a hard-luck loss, which in the standings meant just another loss. They had gotten a shorthanded goal from Bergeron and a Daniel Paille tally that was the product of hard work from the fourth line, and they had drastically outshot their opponent, yet it appeared they would once again be dropping a Saturday matinee at the Garden. 

Then Milan Lucic drew a tripping penalty on Sergei Kostitsyn, and with the B's on the power play, Claude Julien pulled Thomas. With just over a minute to play, Rich Peverley fired a shot wide of Rinne as the B's entered the zone, and Lucic played the bounce off the end boards and scored his 20th goal of the season to tie the game and send it to overtime. The team kept up the pressure in the final seconds, with Brad Marchand nearly ending it in regulation in front, but the game went into overtime.

Five scoreless minutes and a pair of shootout goals from Tyler Seguin and Bergeron later, the Bruins were, for the first time this season, celebrating a win at the Garden on a Saturday afternoon (1-2-1), and it was one that shouldn't have been as close as it was. 

"Most of our wins we’ve earned and I think we actually earned our win [today]" Thomas said. "The good part is we’re finding a way to win. We’re down by a goal with three minutes left. That shows character from the guys by coming back and getting the tying goal."

For the Bruins to not get frustrated after falling behind late, as Thomas said, did show character by the team. The Bruins are no strangers to losing their cool when trailing late, but they were in need of a win and knew that they had brought enough to get one. It wasn’t an easy win to get, but that’s something the Bruins are going to have to get used to. 

“We can’t expect to have blowouts like we did earlier in the season,” Julien said after the game. “They’re going to be tight games, and we need to learn to win those types of games. … We’re going to see a lot more of that. We have to be able to stay focused and positive and find ways to win those.”

Up next for the Bruins is another team with an outstanding goaltender and an affinity for blocking shots in the Rangers. If the Bruins can truly take momentum from Saturday’s victory, there’s no better opponent to show it against than the best one the conference has to offer.