Down 3-0? No problem for Penguins in comeback victory
Carolina nips Islanders in eighth round of a shootout
PITTSBURGH — Jack Johnson’s goal into his own net was one of the low points of a forgettable first period for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Johnson’s short-handed slap shot later in the game helped the Penguins complete another memorable comeback.
Johnson and Bryan Rust scored third-period goals as Pittsburgh rallied to defeat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Sunday. Pittsburgh came back from a three-goal deficit for the third time this season. It’s the second time in franchise history — 2008-09 was the first — that the Penguins have had three three-goal comebacks in a season.
“Getting down 3-0 isn’t what we had in mind,” Johnson said. “We’ve been able to come back before, but that’s not a recipe for success.”
Dominik Simon and Teddy Blueger also scored for the Penguins, who have won six of their last seven games.
Sidney Crosby has points in four straight games since returning from core muscle surgery. Crosby, who had two assists on Sunday, has three goals and eight points after missing the previous 28 games.
Matt Murray rebounded from a shaky start to make 34 saves for Pittsburgh. Murray, who won his fifth straight game, made consecutive starts for the first time since November.
“We didn’t say a whole lot,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of his team’s poor start. “I just didn’t feel it was necessary to state the obvious that we didn’t have the start that we wanted. I did say that we had a lot of hockey left and we had to respond the right way.”
David Pastrnak scored his 37th goal, and Patrice Bergeron scored his 21st and Anders Bjork his eighth for Boston. Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves for the Bruins, who are winless in their last six visits to Pittsburgh
Pastrnak has 11 goals and 24 points in his last 17 games. He’s the first Bruins player with 70 points in 50 or fewer games since Cam Neely and Adam Oates in 1993-94.
Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead at 15:07 of the first period, when he sent the puck to the front of the net, and it went in off Johnson’s stick.
“It’s a 3-0 lead and there’s a lot of game left, so you have to play the right way and keep pushing to keep increasing that lead,” Bergeron said. “I don’t think it’s a matter of effort. I think it’s a matter of us being smart.”
It was just the second time since 2010-11 that the Bruins lost in regulation after leading by three or more goals. Boston was 200-1-6 in that scenario, with the lone loss coming April 4, 2011, when the Bruins scored the first three goals before the New York Rangers scored the next five unanswered.
HURRICANES 2, ISLANDERS 1 (SO): In Raleigh, N.C., Justin Williams returned to the lineup and scored in the eighth round of a shootout to lift Carolina past New York.
Williams played for the first time since helping Carolina reach the Eastern Conference final last year. He took an extended offseason, signed with the club Jan. 8 and helped it end a three-game skid in his first game back.
James Reimer stopped six shots in the tiebreaker for Carolina, the last against Anders Lee to lock up the win. Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen also scored in the shootout for the Hurricanes. Svechnikov had a goal in the first period.
Lee scored in the second period and Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier connected in the shootout for New York, but the Islanders lost their third straight.
BLUE JACKETS 2, RANGERS 1: In New York, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his second goal of the game with 26.5 seconds left to lift Columbus over New York for the Blue Jackets’ fifth straight win.
Bjorkstrand was playing for the first time after 13 games with an oblique injury. He tied it 6:08 into the third period, then put the winner past goalie Igor Shesterkin for his 14th goal of the season.
Columbus rookie Matiss Kivlenieks made his first NHL start and stopped 31 shots. The surging Blue Jackets are 15-2-4 since Dec. 9. They are also 8-1-3 in their last 12 road games.
BLACKHAWKS 5, JETS 2: In Chicago, Patrick Kane reached 1,000 career points when he picked up an assist on Brandon Saad’s third-period goal, and the Blackhawks beat Winnipeg for their season-high fifth straight win.
Kane became the 90th player in NHL history to reach the milestone with 5:46 left. The All-Star winger passed from behind the net to Ryan Carpenter in the right circle. Carpenter then fed a wide-open Saad at the left side of the net for an easy tap-in before goalie Connor Hellebuyck could slide across the crease.
The 31-year-old Kane got an extended ovation from the crowd of 21,487 and was mobbed by teammates after extending his point streak to 10 games. Saad made sure to pick up the puck before joining the celebration.