Early start, lively finish
Three-goal deficit included own goal, but Murray, others settle in for big win
The Penguins started the game Sunday with little energy and a lot of agitation, swinging their sticks at Boston Bruins players who pounded them three days earlier.
The home fans were equally irked, jeering a twotime Cup-winning goalie.
Viewers who tuned in to watch two Eastern Conference powerhouses clash likely were checking to see when the NFL’s conference championships kicked off.
The Penguins, already down 3-0, were about to get blown out of the water.
“Good teams don’t get discouraged,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. “They stay the course.”
Sidney Crosby sparked them with two beautiful assists, Matt Murray settled down after a nightmarish start, and the Penguins stormed back to steal a 4-3 win Sunday from the formidable Bruins at PPG Paints Arena.
Add it all up, and it was maybe the Penguins’ best, most satisfying win yet.
And that’s saying something, since it was the seventh time this season they won after trailing after two periods. Only the Dallas Stars have done it more often.
“We’ve climbed out of holes before,” said Bryan Rust, who scored yet another
game-winning goal. “Everybody in the room knew what it took. We just had to elevate our game a little bit. Play a little bit harder. Play a little bit smarter.”
Their start Sunday, as Rust put it perfectly, was “horrific.” Patrice Bergeron scored 11 seconds into the game. The Bruins got another goal, their second on three shots, less than two minutes later when Murray retreated too far into his net on a fairly innocent 3-on-2 break and flailed his glove as Anders Bjork picked a corner.
After the next save the goalie made, sticking a longrange shot into the corner, some fans mockingly cheered Murray, loud enough that players heard it.
Later in the period, Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson accidentally deflected David Pastrnak’s centering pass between Murray’s legs, putting the Bruins up, 3-0.
“We didn’t say a whole lot. I just didn’t feel it was necessary to state the obvious, that we didn’t have the start that we wanted,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “But what I did say is that we had a lot of hockey left to respond the right way. ‘All we can do is control what’s in front of us. So let’s go out and try to play better.’ ”
And so they did, following the lead of their captain. Of course.
Late in the first, Crosby made a jaw-dropping pass from behind the Bruins net to set up Dominik Simon for his second goal in the past four games.
Crosby made an even crazier one in the first minute of the second period to get the Penguins back within a goal. After Teddy Blueger left the penalty box, Crosby chased down a puck that had caromed off the end boards and with his back to the play made a between-the-legs pass to Blueger, who beat Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak.
Crosby has eight points in four games since Tuesday when he returned to the lineup.
The Penguins in that second period settled down and got back to playing their uptempo brand of hockey instead of trying to match the physicality of the chippy Bruins, who dominated them Thursday night in a 4-1 loss in Boston.
Instead of throwing punches or slashing shin pads, they fought through checks, worked together and got their forecheck going. They controlled play in the second. When the Bruins made a push late in the period, Murray kept them out.
“We didn’t like the way we played in their rink, so we tried to come out and be physical. And maybe we were overthinking it,” Rust said. “It was a 12:30 [p.m.] game. We just had to try to settle down and just skate and work together.”
And in the third, with Letang in the penalty box, Johnson redeemed himself at the end of a 3-on-2 rush by ripping a slap shot past Halak to tie the score, 3-3. It was the Penguins’ first short-handed goal since their Dec. 6 win against Arizona.
The Penguins took the lead with 7:25 left. Evgeni Malkin barreled into Charlie McAvoy behind the Boston net, knocking the puck loose. He quickly spun and found Rust in front. Halak, fooled by Malkin’s pass, was looking the other way.
“It’s a hard-working goal,” Sullivan said. “When you have one of your best players and leaders step up like that, it speaks volumes for the leadership of the group.”
Murray came up big before and after Rust’s fourth game-winner of the season, leading to “Murray! Murray!” chants two hours after he got Bronx cheers.
Murray, who made 28 saves Friday in a 2-1 overtime win in Detroit, was given a second start in a row for the first time since Nov. 21. He made 34 saves and now has won five consecutive starts, posting a .925 save percentage over that span.
“Unfortunately, he heard it a bit from the crowd there early on in the game. But he stuck with it,” Crosby said. “He’s been great. That’s not easy for a goalie, when you’re at home and you hear it from your own fans. So I’m happy for him and I’m happy we were able to get back into it and give them something to cheer about.”
Given the size of the deficit Sunday, the caliber of opponent and what happened in Boston three days earlier, this was a Zdeno Chara-sized win and the latest sign that these Penguins are capable of accomplishing something special this spring.
“With the success we had with the injuries we had, the recipe to win is pretty clear in our dressing room. If we play the right away, we’ll have success,” Letang said. “I think it doesn’t matter the score. We keep playing.”
The Penguins visit the Flyers Tuesday in Philadelphia, their final game before the All-Star break. They blasted the Flyers, 71, in late October in their only other meeting this season.