vs. , 7 p.m. ETEven though the Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins enter Monday's game with nearly identical records, they probably have completely different opinions about their performance so far this season. They should, anyway.The Predators were supposed Derek Law Jersey to be good this year and a potential contender in the Western conference. They are coming off of a 104-point season that saw them nearly win the Central Division, they have one of the best defensive units in the NHL, a young star in and one of the better goalies in the league. They seemed to be trending in the right direction as an organization and expectations should have been at an all-time high.The Bruins, on the other hand, were coming off of a season that ended their run of seven consecutive postseason appearances (a run that included two trips to the Stanley Cup Final, including one Stanley Cup win). That, combined with a brutal salary cap situation, seemed to send the organization into chaos over the summer. The general manager was fired, , and were traded, and then their top-two returning defensemen ( and ) started the season sidelined due to injury. Expectations were probably lower for the Bruins entering 2015-16 than they had ever been in the Claude Julien era because for the first time the only thing that was expected was for them to lose.Two months into the season, both teams are sitting in the exact same position in the standings. For the Bruins, their defense has been as bad as it was feared to be at the start of the year (and that's Chara having a strong year even at age 38) and a down year from hasn't really helped cover up for it.What covered up for it is an offense that enters play on Monday fourth in the NHL in goals scored and has tallied at least four goals in six of their past nine games. This was not expected this year, and it's been a total teamwide effort to this point. Patrice Bergeron is a point-per-game player, Loui Erik son has come through in a contract year, and a healthy David Krejci has given them a tough 1-2 punch down the middle at center. A team that used to win games 2-1 by playing shutdown defense and sucking the life out of opposing offenses is now playing in the highest scoring games in the league and finding a way to win 5-4 and 4-3 every night.On Monday, they get a Predators team that has won just six of its past 17 games after starting the season 7-1-1 and has cratered offensively in recent weeks with just 16 goals in their past nine games. The talent level is better than this, and you have to think that sooner or later they are going to start playing more like the 2014-15 team, especially if they can find a way to upgrade their center position. But it may not happen on Monday night in Boston.Pick: Boston Bruins 3, Nashville Predators 1The rest of Monday's scores 4, 2 3, 2 Alex Call Jersey