The Pittsburgh Penguins hung in against a tough Boston Bruins team, playing in an arena full of emotional fans, and came away with a sixth straight victory.
Thanks in large part to two power play goals in the third period, the Penguins exited Boston with a 3-2 victory and the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
The game was originally scheduled for yesterday but was postponed due to the second suspect of the Boston Marathon bombing still on the loose. The NHL rescheduled the game for this afternoon, and the Bruins were greeted by 17,000+ fans who were happy to feel safe again.
The Bruins fed off the emotion of the crowd and jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first period. Brad Marchand took a pass from Zdeno Chara, made a nice move around Kris Letang, and shot the puck that squirted through the left armpit of Tomas Vokoun.
Boston continued to carry the play in the first. Jarome Iginla and Nathan Horton scrapped late in the first period, possibly turning the momentum. Horton did not return to the game, leaving with a hand injury.
Jussi Jokinen got the Penguins on the board five minutes into the second period. Tanner Glass won a puck battle behind the net and got the puck out to Matt Niskanen on the right point. Niskanen’s shot was blocked in front causing chaos in front of goaltender Tukka Rask. Jokinen pounced on the loose puck before Rask could cover, and backhanded it into the net.
Tomas Vokoun settled in during the second period, turning away all 15 Boston shots. Vokoun got a pad on Chris Kelly’s shot on a partial breakaway, then stopped Andrew Ference shortly thereafter.
The turning point in the game may have been Matt Cooke’s hit on Adam McQuaid. Cooke hip-checked McQuaid on the thigh causing an injury to the Bruins’ defenseman. Zdeno Chara took a roughing penalty for going after Cooke.
The penalty that hurt the Bruins was on Brad Marchand for roughing Jussi Jokinen in front of the net. Marchand dropped the gloves with Jokinen despite not getting a mutual agreement to fight.
Jarome Iginla scored from the left point to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. Jussi Jokinen and Beau Bennett assisted on Iginla’s slap shot goal, but Kris Letang made the play possible by diving to keep the puck in the offensive zone.
Four minutes later, Kris Letang would be rewarded by scoring a goal to put the Penguins up by two. Matt Bartkowski took a high-sticking penalty and a face off win by Jokinen eventually got the puck out to Letang at the top of the left wing circle. Letang looked over his options then fired a shot that beat Rask on the stick side.
Shortly after Pittsburgh’s third goal, Vokoun made spectacular saves on Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin. The Penguins’ defensemen were slow getting over the boards as Marchand took a stretch pass. Vokoun denied Marchand on the breakaway stopped Seguin while facing the wrong way.
Seguin would scored with three seconds remaining but the Penguins emerged with a 3-2 victory.
- Jussi Jokinen has four goals in his first six games.
- Kris Letang’s goal marked his 400th NHL point.
- The Penguins will be the top seed in the conference since the 1992-1993 season when they clinched the top spot in the Prince of Wales division.
Three Stars
- Tomas Vokoun
- Jussi Jokinen
- Patrice Bergeron
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
