Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored the last half of four unanswered goals as the Boston Bruins beat the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in a testy affair Thursday.
Sean Kuraly and Par Lindholm also tallied, and Karson Kuhlman and David Pastrnak each had two assists as the Bruins won for the fourth time in their last six games. Jaroslav Halak stopped 29 shots in net.
Sidney Crosby scored 24 seconds in for the Penguins, who were blanked the rest of the way. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves as Pittsburgh had a four-game winning streak snapped.
The first of two games in four days between the clubs featured 13 penalties, including two matching sets of roughing calls. Torey Krug and Patric Hornqvist dropped the gloves late in the second period and were assessed fighting majors.
Shortly after, with a delayed penalty on Pittsburgh's Marcus Pettersson, Bergeron had the puck bounce off his glove, over Jarry and into the Penguins net in what was confirmed to be a no-goal after review. On the ensuing penalty kill, the Penguins had a 2-on-0 spoiled by Halak, who made five saves in the final 10 seconds of the period to maintain the 2-1 edge.
Bergeron made it 3-1 with a top-corner snipe at 3:19 of the third period, and Marchand added an empty-netter with 52.6 seconds left to seal the result.
Crosby's marker - his second goal and fifth point in just his second game back since two months missed with a core muscle injury - got Pittsburgh on the board quick. Boston knotted the score at 10:03 of the first period when Kuraly's goal appeared to deflect off the leg of Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson and past Jarry.
Lindholm made it 2-1 Bruins 2:13 later on a redirect goal of a long pass from Kuhlman, who played his first game since Oct. 19 following an injury and subsequent American Hockey League stint.
Before the game, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was honored for playing his 500th career game earlier this season. Rask, currently sidelined by a concussion, was gifted a Metallica drumset as part of the ceremony.
-Field Level Media
