Boston Bruins cruise to 4-2 win over Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins seemed to be on the verge of a win, but the Boston Bruins pumped in four goals in the third period to stun Pittsburgh 4-2, at the CONSOL Energy Centre on Monday night.
Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand each recorded a goal, while Mark Recchi supplied the go-ahead goal. Gregory Campbell netted the final goal in Boston’s victory and also provided two assists. Tuukka Rask turned aside 23 shots for the Bruins, who halted a two-game
losing streak, and got sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division.
Rask said after the game, “In hockey, those things happen and usually over the course of the year you win some and lose some that way. Back-to-back situations like this, it doesn’t usually happen. But we made it happen.”
Michael Rupp and Kris Letang scored second-period goals for the Penguins, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for Pittsburgh, who have dropped three games in a row and six of their last eight contest. Fleury was working on his second shutout of the season
until the play-off turned dramatically.
“Frustrating,” Fleury said. “It was tough at the end there, there’s not much time left and they kept coming at us. It’s tough to let that one go.”
The first period of the game was scoreless as both teams played very well on defence. Both teams found great chances to open the scoring, but neither of them could take advantage.
“In the first and second, we had some great opportunities,” Recchi said. “We could have been right in the game and we knew if we stayed with it, we could come back. We’ve done it in this building before and we believed we could do it.”
Rupp put Pittsburgh on the board with a backhander from below the right circle in the 12th minute of second period. Deryk Engelland assisted on this goal to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
Letang then gave the Penguins a two-goal advantage in the 16th minute of the second period. He fired a one-timer through traffic from the left point, which found the back of the net.
Facing a 2-0 Penguins' advantage, Chara ignited the comeback on a power-play and halved the deficit at 2-1 for the Bruins. With a boarding penalty to Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik winding down, the Bruins captain unleashed a successful slap shot from
the right point that beat Fleury on the glove side.
“We talked about it right before the third period, how we had a similar two-goal lead the last time they played here,” said Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, whose boarding penalty led to Chara’s goal.” We said to not give up any 2-on-1s, and I think we
gave up at least three. It could be more.”
Marchand lit the lamp after 12 seconds to tie the game at 2-2. Marchand received a nice pass from Patrice Bergeron and sent the puck home. Campbell also assisted on this goal.
The Bruins gained their first lead at 3-2 in last 3 and a half minutes of the final period. After Penguins’ Jordan Staal went off for holding, Michael Ryder blasted a shot on the net but it was stopped by Fleury. Recchi collected the rebound in front of
the net, and swatted the puck home for his 200th career power-play goal.
Campbell gave Boston a two-goal advantage 4-2 in the last minute of the third period, scoring an empty-netter and sealing the victory for the Bruins. Rask had to make only two of his 23 saves in the final period to ensure the win for the Bruins.
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