FINAL SCORE: Penguins 5, Bruins 3
IN BRIEF: The Bruins couldn't keep up with the Penguins on Friday night as Pittsburgh snapped Boston's three-game win streak. BOX SCORE
BRUINS RECORD: 17-11-2
FROM JOE HAGGERTY:
1. Charlie McAvoy not having a very good night for the Black and Gold. He made a mistake at the blue line that led to Pittsburgh’s shorthanded goal, and then compounded it with the way he played the shorthanded rush with Torey Krug. It was both McAvoy and John Moore with the defensive zone coverage gaffe that led to Pittsburgh’s first goal of the game in the first period when they both chased the puck carrier behind the net and opened up the slot area. He’d been pretty solid to this point since coming back from injury, but is a minus-2 in 15:24 of ice time through two periods while making some mistakes that lead directly to Penguins goals.
2. How about Brandon Carlo scoring his first goal in the last two seasons? It was a very good shift from the Bruins fourth line as Chris Wagner drove the net, and the entire fourth line kept hacking and whacking at the puck in front of the net while trying to force the puck past the goal line. Eventually Wagner worked the puck loose toward the point, and Carlo stepped into it and hammered a shot to the top corner for Boston’s only goal. It had to feel good for Carlo after he had six goals in his rookie season, but hadn’t been able to crack the goal-scoring sheet in each of the last two seasons.
3. The Bruins fourth line has brought a solid brand of hockey to Pittsburgh in this one. Chris Wagner and Sean Kuraly have been throwing out thumping hits and getting involved in the fore-check, and they’ve managed on a number of occasions to get some real traffic around the front of the net. With all that included, the B’s fourth line also directly led to a pair of goals and nearly had another one when Wagner net drive rested on top of goalie Casey DeSmith’s chest in the crease. Later it was the fourth line that finally created Brandon Carlo’s goal and then got a Wagner strike from the slot early in the third period as well.
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4. Jaroslav Halak wasn’t terrible, but three goals allowed on 18 shots through the first two periods of play is still three goals allowed on 18 shots. He needed to make a save on the Aston-Reese shot under his armpit to bail out his teammates on a shorthanded goal right before the end of the second period, or not let fourth-liner Derek Grant beat him in the first period. Then after the Bruins scored two goals in a span of 33 seconds in the third period and tied it up, it looked like things might be turning around when Halak made a couple of good saves. Alas, a third-period score for the Pens off an offensive zone face-off took any feel-good possibilities away from the Bruins goalie.
5. The offensive outburst continues for David Krejci and the Bruins as No. 46 scored a game-tying goal in the third period after following a David Pastrnak bid that smacked off the crossbar. It was Krejci’s third goal and seventh point in the last four games since he was inserted as the center on the B’s top line alongside Brad Marchand and Pastrnak, and continues a really productive stretch for them as the de facto top line for the B’s while Patrice Bergeron is out with injury. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough in the end for the Bruins as they fell by a 5-3 score after battling all the way back to tie it up in the third period.
HIGHLIGHTS:
PITTSBURGH STRIKES FIRST
KESSEL MAKES IT 2-0 PENS
CARLO ENDS THE DROUGHT
ASTON-REESE TACKS ON ANOTHER FOR PENGUINS
WAGNER GETS B'S BACK IN IT
KREJCI TIES IT UP
PENGUINS TAKE BACK THE LEAD
UP NEXT:
Vs. Buffalo, Sunday, 5 p.m. (NESN)
Vs Montreal, Monday, 7:30 p.m. (NESN)
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