Bergeron Leads Bruins To 4-1 Win Over Penguins
BOSTON (AP) — Anders Bjork's pass deflected off a defender's rear end and Sean Kuraly's leg to break a second-period tie and help the Boston Bruins win their fourth straight game, 4-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.
Patrice Bergeron had two goals and Chris Wagner also scored for Boston. Jaroslav Halak stopped 16 shots for the Bruins' second victory over Pittsburgh in three days. It was Bergeron's fourth and fifth goals of the season and the first for Kuraly and Wagner.
Cody Ceci scored his first and Tristan Jarry had 16 saves for the Penguins, who arrived in Boston with a four-game winning streak but have now lost two in a row.
Wagner gave the Bruins the lead early in the first, but Ceci tied it for the Penguins with five minutes left in the period. With about a minute to go in the first, Bjork made a nice move to get past a stickless defender at the point, then flipped the puck toward the net.
It bounced off of Teddy Blueger's bottom, through another defender's legs before deflecting Kuraly's leg into the net.
Bergeron made it 3-1 in the second, getting the rebound after his first attempt hit a skate and sliding the puck over to his backhand then past Jarry. The Bruins captain added another in the power play early in the third.
SHAKEUP
It was the first game for the Penguins since general manager Jim Rutherford abruptly stepped down on Wednesday. Rutherford, who built the teams that won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and '17, cited personal reasons and declined to get into specifics with anyone, including star Sidney Crosby.
"I think everyone was surprised," Crosby said Thursday.
WHAT'S NEXT
Penguins: Visit the Rangers for back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.
Bruins: Travel to Washington for their first two games against former captain Zdeno Chara, Saturday and Sunday.
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