BOSTON – Brad Marchand had two of his three goals and set up another in Boston’s five-goal second period, and the Boston Bruins rebounded from a lackluster effort with a 7-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.
Patrice Bergeron moved into the fourth on the club’s all-time scoring list. David Pastrnak scored twice, David Krejci and Bergeron each had a goal for Boston. Bergeron added an assist, giving him 899 career points to move past Rick Middleton (898).
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“These are the types of games you have to be able to see through adversity,” Marchand said. “It's something we have to be able to do every night as a group.”
Playing for the first time after coach Bruce Cassidy called out some of his top veterans two days ago, saying he was “disappointed” in their play, the Bruins' core group struck in big numbers in the second period.
“High-end plays by high-end players,” Cassidy said of his top players after Saturday's win. “It was nice. Haven't had those kind of nights in our building much.”
Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Jared McCann, Mark Jankowski and Cody Ceci each scored for the Penguins, who had ended a 10-game winless stretch in Boston (0-8-2) with a 4-1 victory over the Bruins on Thursday. It was their first win in TD Garden since Nov. 24, 2014.
The loss ended Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak and was just its fourth in the last 15 games (11-3-1). Casey DeSmith had 21 saves for Pittsburgh. He had allowed just two goals or less in his last eight games for a 1.05 goals-against-average.
“I think it just boils down to details, some of the details got away from us tonight, mostly in the second period,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “When you get away from detail, those are the types of chances you give up. ... We just weren't good enough in the second period in particular.”
Jaroslav Halak stopped 23 shots for Boston.
Crosby’s short-handed goal made it 6-5 with 1:15 left, but Marchand’s empty-netter sealed it 14 seconds later. It was the first hat trick by a Bruins' player since fans were able to return to the building in limited, 12% capacity, due to the pandemic.
After Marchand's goal, an add went up on the Jumbotron offering fans a 25% discount on new hats.
“It's nice to be able to see hats on the ice at the Garden,” Pastrnak said.
Pittsburgh had moved ahead 3-2 on McCann’s power-play goal 5:11 into the period, but Marchand scored twice and set up Krejci’s power-play goal in the final 5:04 of the period.
“You can't give up that many chances in the slot,” Ceci said. “It definitely stings. We were pretty excited to get the win the last game. We knew they were going to push back, and they definitely did.”
Marchand tied it when he beat DeSmith with a wrister from the left circle after defenseman Matt Grzelcyk circled the net and sent a pass across from the right corner.
Marchand then set up Krejci’s score with a pass from the high slot that the center redirected into the net from the edge of the crease.
In the closing seconds of the period, Marchand collected a pass from Charlie McAvoy in the slot and fired a shot that caromed into the net off the left post.
The Bruins scored when Bergeron slipped a wrist shot past DeSmith and took the lead 2-1 on Pastrnak’s goal 34 seconds later. It ended a five-game goalless stretch for Pastrnak. Last season, the winger scored 48 goals, tying Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the NHL’s most.
SID’S NO KID
Crosby now has 62 points (16 goals, 46 assists) against the Bruins, the most by any active player.
INJURY UPDATE
Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo, who suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury Thursday, will be evaluated on a “week-to-week basis.” Carlo sustained a concussion on March 5 on a head hit by the Capitals’ Tom Wilson that earned the forward a seven-game suspension from the league.
“It’s been a trying year for him injury-wise,” Cassidy said before the game.
LINEUP SHIFT
Boston defenseman Jeremy Lauzon was a late scratch. Jarred Tinordi took his spot in the lineup. Lauzon had a rough game Thursday, getting beaten for a goal and turning the puck over a few times in the defensive zone.
Bruins center Sean Kuraly was back after missing six games due to COVID-19 protocol.
WHAT’S NEXT
Penguins: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the first of consecutive meetings between the clubs in Madison Square Garden.
Bruins: Host the Flyers on Monday in the first of home-and-home matchups. It’ll be Boston’s finale of a franchise-record tying seven-game homestand.
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