Pens Extend Winning Streak To 9 With 2-1 Win Over Bruins
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Pittsburgh Penguins extended their winning streak to nine games by holding off the Boston Bruins 2-1 Sunday afternoon.
In the first period the Pittsburgh Penguins came out flying. For the first half of the period, the Penguins were all over the Bruins, but just could not find a way to beat Tuukka Rask.
Eventually, Sidney Crosby broke through to get the Pens on the board first.
Crosby split the defense with a burst of speed and got off good shot while falling down. Rask was able to make the save and no penalty was called on the play.
Off the next faceoff, Crosby found a bouncing puck just outside the crease and buried it behind Rask at 12:06 of the period.
The goal appeared to wake the Bruins up as they started to get sustained pressure for the first time in the game.
With the Penguins pinned deep, a shot by Johnny Boychuk deflects off Kris Letang right to a wide open Tyler Seguin who had the whole net to shoot at. Tomas Vokoun had no chance at it as Seguin ripped the puck into the net to tie the game 1-1 at the 16:38 mark.
However, the Penguins would retake the lead in the dying seconds of the second period.
Craig Adams moved into the Bruins zone and fired a quick wrist shot on goal that appeared to deflect off a defenseman in the slot. The change in direction handcuffed Rask and he was unable to cleanly catch the puck.
The rebound fell just out of his reach as Joe Vitale did his best Superman impression and flipped the puck under the crossbar to give the Pens a 2-1 lead with 32 seconds remaining.
Letang did not return to the game after a race for the puck with Brad Marchand late in the first period. Replays showed Letang turn toward the net and immediately hunch over in pain. The only update about the injury the Pens provided during the game was that he suffered a "lower-body" injury.
The second period featured no goals, but tensions starting to boil over.
Late in the second period, Boston's Patrice Bergeron was assessed a penalty for playing a puck with his glove off a faceoff. While he argued the call, Milan Lucic and James Neal exchanged words. Eventually, the two exchanged quick jabs before the officials stepped in and broke it up.
No additional penalties were assessed on the play and the Penguins were unable to get anything going on the power play.
Boston led 20-15 in shots after the first 40 minutes of play.
In the third period, the Bruins continued to storm the Penguins' net, but could not find a way to get another puck behind Vokoun, who finished with 31 saves and was named as the game's number one star. Vokoun stopped all 12 Boston shots in the period as the Penguins were only able to muster three on Rask at the other end.
The Penguins will look to extend their streak to double digits when they host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
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