For the 2010 to 2011 season, justSports has been given a press pass to attend Boston Bruins home games. We will cover these games periodically throughout the year.
Outside of the locker room before the game, the Boston Bruins played soccer and hacky sack, confident and calm, with the air of a team riding a seven-game winning streak. But, the locker room at the end of the game had a very different tone, as the depleted Pittsburgh Penguins, playing their second game in as many days, outplayed the Bruins and ended their streak in a hard-fought, 3-2 overtime win.
"They outskated us," Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said. "They didn't look like they played back-to-back games. They were playing playoff style of hockey. They were getting the puck in deep, forechecking and getting the puck in our zone. That is why we had so much trouble with them. We were fortunate to get the 1 point."
The Bruins came into last Saturday's game riding a seven-game winning streak that solidified their position on top of the Northeast division and second in the Eastern Conference with 83 points. The Penguins had lost stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the season because of injury and had played the night before. All signs pointed to a tired and shorthanded Penguin team. However, it was the Bruins who came out flat.
"I thought that we didn't have our best game, that's for sure," Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara said "We had heavy legs, we didn't skate well, we didn't move the puck well. On the other side, Pittsburgh played extremely well. They put a lot of pressure on us. They took away space and time and we couldn't create much. . It almost felt like we were the team who played last night."
The first period of play was hard-nosed, grind-it-out hockey, as neither team could find the back of the net. The Penguins outshot the Bruins 14 to 9, but neither team could get a foothold during an evenly played period. Bruins forward Shawn Thornton and Penguins center Michael Rupp each received 5-minute majors for fighting just 2 minutes, 59 seconds into the period, and Bruins forward Nathan Horton and Penguins forward Craig Adams fought 18:31 into the period, earning them each 5 minutes in the box. Otherwise, it was an uneventful first period of play.
The Bruins came out of the locker room at the start of the second period on the attack, and eventually found the back of the net with a goal by Chara, his 11th of the year, and his first goal since his Jan. 17 hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes. Bruins center David Krejci found Chara streaking down the middle of the Penguins zone unopposed. Chara handled the pass and fired into the top shelf past Pens goalie Marc Andre-Fleury 7:26 into the second period. The goal was Krejci's 40th assist of the season. Wingman Milan Lucic also earned his 20th assist of the year on the goal.
The Bruins did not hang on to their lead for long, and began to fade before a Penguin offensive assault. It was only a matter of time before Penguins center Jordan Staal converted. Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy and Staal broke out on a two-on-one after Bruins defenseman Jonny Boychuk skated too far into the Penguins zone. Staal and Kennedy raced up ice, opposed by only Chara. Kennedy took Thomas out of position with a quick pass to Staal, who scored on the virtually empty net. The goal came 10:09 into the period and was Staal's seventh of the year.
The goal did not end the Penguins' intensity, as they continued to outskate the Bruins, and a minute later the Penguins took a 2-1 lead on a goal from forward Dustin Jeffrey. Penguins center Maxime Talbot passed to defenseman Zbynek Michalek for a one-timer, but Michalek's shot was partially blocked. The puck landed in front of forward Dustin Jeffrey, who rifled the puck past Thomas for his sixth of the year at 11:19.
"Well, I think it was mostly us. We weren't moving our feet at all," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We were second to the puck if anything. At the same time you couldn't establish a physical game because you never got there on time. So they were on the puck and we were doing a lot of watching. . They just took the game away from us at that point."
An open third period saw the Bruins wake up, as they piled up numerous chances. But they seemed unable to score on Andre-Fleury, who finished with 29 saves, 11 of them coming in the third. The Penguins had their share of opportunities, but Thomas was also impressive with seven saves in the period.
The Bruins' winning streak seemed all but over with 1 minute to go. Thomas was pulled, and Penguins forward Matt Cooke found the puck in the Bruins' zone with a chance for an empty netter. However, he hesitated, and his shot was blocked by defenseman Tomas Kaberle. The Bruins took control of the puck, and raced down the ice. Krejci was left wide open in the middle, where forward Nathan Horton found him. Krejci fired a slap shot past Fleury to tie the game with just 37 seconds remaining. It was Krejci's 11th goal of the year.
"There were a lot of things that happened," Krejci said. "All I know is that [Recchi] was the extra shooter and did a good job going to the goal. They went hard after the puck. We tried to get a quick shot. I tried to pick the corner and it worked."
The Bruins, could not capitalize in the overtime period as Jeffrey scored again for the Penguins to win the game. Bruins defensemen Dennis Seidenberg tried to pass to forward Michael Ryder, but the pass was intercepted by Jeffrey, who broke away from the defense and put the puck past Thomas.
"I made a very nice pass to the wrong guy. . They battled back, and I gave the puck away and got caught flat-footed, and they scored. It's not fun," Seidenberg said.
The Penguins improved to 38-21-8, with 84 points; and the Bruins fell to 38-19-8, but earned a point in the overtime loss and now have 84.
The Penguins have found wins hard to come by since losing Crosby and Malkin and have not won a game in regulation since a Feb. 4 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres.
"We've had a couple of overtimes we've lost at the end of a game, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "[We] had to play back-to-back games. Just to get the reward from playing a hard-fought game on both sides of the ledger. To get two is a big statement from us."
Both teams are in action tonight as the Bruins face the Canadiens in Montreal and the Penguins face the Sabres.