By Steve Conroy
October 31, 2013
Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (71) has a shot blocked by Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH — There’s a funny thing about furious comebacks. If you complete one, it tends to wipe away all the sins that had been committed beforehand.
But if you fall short, penance must be paid.
That was the case with the Bruins last night at Consol Energy Center. After falling behind by two goals on turnovers, the B’s got one back on Jarome Iginla’s long-range shot with 1:43 left and goalie Tuukka Rask pulled for an extra skater. The Bruins had several great looks for a potential tying goal, including one from David Krejci in the final seconds, but Pittsburgh goalie Marc Andre-Fleury stood tall and the Penguins won, 3-2.
At the end it felt like Pittsburgh escaped with one, but in truth the Penguins were the better team for most of the night. The B’s managed few scoring chances against in the first two periods and, if not for Rask (28 saves), they could have been down by more than the 1-0 score that they were entering the third.
It was the first road loss this season for the Bruins, who now also have their first losing streak entering a game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at the Garden.
Last night, the B’s did not take advantage of the edge they hold in the brawn department.
“We didn’t play to our identity,” coach Claude Julien said. “We didn’t play a heavy game tonight for at least two periods. When we did in the third it made a difference. We got ourselves back in the game. We had to play three periods like we did in the third and that wasn’t the case. We knew they were going to come out hard and they did.”
The B’s allowed the Penguins some level of satisfaction, however small it may have been, after sweeping them out of the Eastern Conference finals last spring. And there was plenty of disappointment to go around in the visitors dressing room.
“We played with too much hesitation,” B’s captain Zdeno Chara said. “We were not jumping on loose pucks and when you play a team like this, they’re going to take advantage of that.
“We did a better job in the third, but we have to play that way for 60 (minutes), not just the last 20.”
Chris Kunitz gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 6:54 of the second period on a power-play goal. The B’s tied the game at 1:05 of the third when Patrice Bergeron redirected home a Dennis Seidenberg shot past Fleury.
A misplay and a mistake then put Pittsburgh in control. First, Brandon Sutter put the Penguins up 2-1 when he was able to chip the puck past Torey Krug, who had tried to poke the it out of the defensive zone. Sutter blew past Krug and beat Rask with a shot under the crossbar with 9:00 left.
“I read it right, but I wasn’t in the right spot to pick it off. I just missed it,” Krug said. “It was a nice play by him tipping the puck. If you guys could see it from where I was, it was a very impressive play. Unfortunately, I didn’t play it right and he went in and scored.”
With 2:02 left, Johnny Boychuk sent a risky pass to Jordan Caron in the the defensive zone, but Jussi Jokinen was able to jump Caron quickly, turn the puck over and score from the slot.
“I hit (Caron) on the tape and it maybe just bounced and they were able to capitalize on it,” Boychuk said.
The B’s closed to within one when Bergeron won a faceoff to Milan Lucic and Lucic dished it to Iginla for the goal. Despite a heavy attack at the end, the Bruins could not pop home the equalizer. And needless to say, the B’s didn’t enjoy the Red Sox’ World Series win last night like other Bostonians.
“I think we can all look in the mirror here and we can certainly play better, there’s no doubt about (that),” Julien said. “I guess now it’s the ebbs and flows of the early season. I think we have to look ourselves in the mirror and start playing to what our identity is and take some pride in it.”
- See more at: http://bostonherald.com/sports/bruins_nhl/boston_bruins/2013/10/late_bruins_push_falls_short#sthash.7NaOaNUY.dpuf
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