Over the last month, the Penguins have transformed themselves into one of the NHL’s better defensive teams. Two dependable netminders, an emphasis on protecting the scoring area and smart puck decisions helped Pittsburgh allow just 1.76 goals per game since the beginning of March.
Then Saturday happened.
In a 7-5 Bruins victory at TD Garden, Boston blitzed the Penguins with five second-period goals to snap the Penguins’ five-game winning streak. It was the most goals the Penguins have allowed all season.
Backup goalie Casey DeSmith has been so invaluable for the Penguins this season. He had just recently surged into first place in the NHL leaderboard for save percentage. But with Tristan Jarry sidelined again due to injury, DeSmith earned his second-consecutive start. He stopped just 21 of 27 shots in the loss.
Though Boston split up its so-called “Perfection Line,” that trio had its fingerprints all over the game. Brad Marchand netted his fourth career hat trick. David Pastrnak scored twice. The man who typically centers them, Patrice Bergeron, added one of his own.
The first period played out much like the previous three in Boston, with tight-checking and a Penguins lead.
Less than four minutes into the first period, Mark Jankowski won a faceoff and then took his big, 6-4 frame to the front of the net. He redirected Mike Matheson’s shot from the top of the left circle. It marked Jankowski’s first goal scored with a netminder in the crease since the first game of the season.
But momentum would seesaw unexpectedly in both directions during a wild second period. In total, the second 20 minutes featured seven total goals, six penalties, three lead changes and a few massive scrums.
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The tone for middle 20 was set when Boston scored twice within the first 45 seconds to take a 2-1 lead. Burgeron and Pastrnak each scored in the early moments.
The Penguins responded with a pair of goals of their own. From below the goalline, Sidney Crosby found Jake Guentzel in a soft spot in the slot. He buried the wrister. Then, the Penguins reclaimed the lead, 3-2, by exposing the NHL’s best penalty kill.
Pittsburgh used its speed to beat the Bruins’ hyper-aggressive kill. Crosby raced through the neutral zone with speed. He backhanded the puck to Guentzel, who made a nifty play to lift the defenders’ stick and then pass the puck to Jared McCann. He ripped it past Jaroslav Halak for the Penguins’ sixth power play goal in the last five games.
But a period that began with two quick Bruins goals ended with three more from Boston. Marchand netted two that bookended David Krejci power play tally. Boston went into the dressing room with a 5-3 lead.
The Penguins battled back in the third. Cody Ceci cut the Bruins' lead to 5-4 less than five minutes into the third period. He capitalized on a pretty assist from Jankowski.
But with the Penguins pressing for the tying goal, Nick Ritchie forced Matheson into a turnover in the neutral zone. It created a 2-on-1 that Pastrnak converted into his second goal of the game. The tally gave the Bruins a 6-4 lead.
With DeSmith pulled for an extra attacker, the Penguins made it interesting with a late tally from Crosby to briefly trim the Boston lead to one. But Marchand swished the empty-netter to seal it.
