David Pastrnak extended his NHL-leading point streak to 17 games with a goal and an assist, and the Boston Bruins held off the host Pittsburgh Penguins to win 3-2 on Saturday.
Pastrnak scored Boston’s opening goal and assisted on a Mason Lohrei power-play tally that extended the lead to 2-0 after one period. Pavel Zacha assisted on both of those goals.
Charlie Coyle’s empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation stood as the decider. The Penguins attempted a late-game rally with a man advantage for the final 1:34 following a Cole Koepke double-minor penalty.
Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves for Boston, which broke a five-game losing streak (0-3-2) and won for just the second time in its last 12 road games (2-8-2).
Anthony Beauvillier and Rickard Rakell scored goals and Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 stops for the Penguins, who have lost five of their last six.
Pittsburgh had a 33-26 lead in shots on goal, netting 16 in the third period, while going just 1-for-7 on the power play.
Bruins captain Brad Marchand left 5:56 into the game following an awkward collision with Pittsburgh’s P.O Joseph. Joseph initially got his stick caught in the Marchand’s skates before finishing his unpenalized hit, sending Marchand shoulder-first into the corner boards.
Joseph took a hard retaliatory hit from Boston’s Marc Kastelic later in the first period and did not return.
Both injuries were categorized as upper-body.
Pastrnak wasted little time adding to his hot streak and giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The star winger took Zacha’s backhand centering pass down the middle of the ice for a wrist shot goal 1:32 into the first.
The game’s first power play resulted in Lohrei doubling the Boston lead at 6:33. The defenseman moved across the zone and pulled up to the top of the left circle, where he snapped home Zacha’s diagonal pass off the right post and in past Nedeljkovic.
After dodging more than a minute of 5-on-3 penalty kill time in the first, Korpisalo and the Bruins continued their strong defensive game, allowing just five second-period shots.
Pastrnak was unable to convert on a penalty shot 3:38 into the third, and Beauvillier’s shorthanded goal gave Pittsburgh life with 5:59 left in regulation. Kevin Hayes forced a turnover and drove down the right wing to a streaking Beauvillier for a wrister.
Coyle’s empty-netter with 41 seconds left added insurance for Boston, though Rakell made sure the hosts would not go away quietly by slotting home Bryan Rust’s feed to the left dot with 21.4 seconds to go.
–Field Level Media
