Bruins end skid, grind out 3-2 win over Pens
A 2-0 lead behind first-period tallies from David Pastrnak and Mason Lohrei set the Bruins up nicely through both the first and second periods of Saturday’s meeting against the Penguins at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena. But it was the Charlie Coyle empty-net goal with 41 seconds remaining that proved to be the difference maker in the victory, as the Bruins outlasted the Penguins by a 3-2 final.
With the win, the Bruins put an end to their five-game losing streak.
And though the Bruins were certainly aided by the quick strike with two goals in the opening 6:33 of the first period, it was the play of the Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo (31 saves) and a grind mentality in the defensive zone that carried the B’s to victory in this contest.
It was especially noticeable with the Bruins down a man, with the B’s going 6-for-7 on the penalty kill, and with their lone power-play goal against coming with the Pittsburgh net empty and on the Black and Gold’s seventh and final trip to the kill on the afternoon.
In front of Korpisalo, it was an effort featuring 21 blocked shots from the B’s, which was their sixth-most in a single game this season, and most since a 25-block day against the Avalanche back in January.
With his game-opening strike, Pastrnak extended his personal point streak to 17 games. If Pastrnak can record a point in Sunday’s contest, he will tie Phil Kessel (2008-09) for the longest point streak by a Bruins player in the post-2005 NHL. Pastrnak also added an assist on the Lohrei power-play goal, and almost had himself a three-point evening before he was denied by the Penguins’ Alex Nedeljkovic on a penalty-shot opportunity in the third period and with the B’s up by two.
But as has been the case in three straight games now, the game did come with an in-game loss for the Bruins, and the biggest one yet, with Brad Marchand knocked out of the game in the first period. Tripped up and then banged into the corner with a slight thump from the Penguins’ P.O. Joseph, Marchand was down on the ice for a few minutes before he ultimately got to his skates and required noticeable help to get back to the Boston bench and down the tunnel back to the room.
And beyond the obvious downer of the loss of Marchand, the goals against also featured some of the Bruins’ worst qualities returning to the table, with a league-leading ninth shorthanded goal allowed to get Pittsburgh on the board, and yet another last-minute goal surrendered by the club.
It’s going to be a quick turnaround for the Bruins, too, with the club set for a Sunday showdown with the Wild in Minnesota. With it being the second leg of a back-to-back for the Bruins, the Bruins have already announced Jeremy Swayman as the starter for that contest. Swayman and the Bruins held the Wild off the board in a shutout victory when these teams linked up at TD Garden last month.
