Malkin's Overtime Goal Rallies Penguins To Win Over Bruins
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin got his second goal of the game at 2:51 of overtime to rally the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday night.
Phil Kessel set up Malkin, who one-timed a shot over Tuukka Rask's pad during a 2-on-1.
Malkin and Kessel scored power-play goals in regulation, while Kris Letang, Jamie Oleksiak and Riley Sheahan also scored for Pittsburgh. The Penguins, coming off a 4-0 win at the New York Islanders on Friday, got consecutive victories for the first time since Dec. 1-2 when they defeated Buffalo twice by a combined score of 9-1. The Penguins, who have just six wins in their last 11 games, moved into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, but are one point from last place in the Metropolitan Division.
Sidney Crosby had three assists after getting a season-high four points against the Islanders. Crosby, with points in five straight against Boston, had four points in 11 games before the last two.
Matt Murray stopped all six shots he faced in relief of Tristan Jarry, who made 14 saves on 19 shots before he was pulled after the Bruins' fifth goal.
Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, David Backes, Noel Acciari and Ryan Spponer all scored in regulation for Boston. The Bruins lost, but earned a point for the 11th straight game (8-0-3). Boston has now totaled 22 goals in its last four games.
Rask, who hasn't lost in regulation since Nov. 26, stopped 29 shots for Boston.
Both teams let two-goal leads slip away.
Pittsburgh held a 3-1 advantage in the first period on goals by Oleksiak, Kessel and Letang. But Boston rallied with the next four goals from Marchand, Acciari, Pastrnak and Backes to open a 5-3 lead.
Malkin's power-play tally with 3.6 seconds to play in the second period pulled Pittsburgh within one and Sheahan's short-side goal off the rush 2:54 into the third period tied the score.
Murray stopped Marchand's penalty shot with 1:01 to play in regulation to force overtime.
NOTES: Penguins D Brian Dumoulin played after missing the previous two games with a concussion. ... Penguins D Chad Ruhwedel missed his sixth game with an upper-body injury. ... The Penguins scratched D Ian Cole and F Carter Rowney. Boston sat F Frank Vatrano and D Paul Postma. ... Pittsburgh reassigned D Frank Corrado to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
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