Unless you've been paying close attention lately, you might not realize that the Bruins (14-8-4) are a bit of a mess at the moment. Tonight, they began a back-to-back set at the PPG Paints Arena with a 4-1 loss to the red-hot Penguins (18-9-1). Unlike Saturday's lifeless 4-0 shutout loss to the Rangers (11-12-4) at the TD Garden, scoring chances weren't the main issue this evening as the B's outshot the Pens 43-26 but Pittsburgh's goaltender Tristan Jarry (42 saves, 12-7-1) was really tough to beat. Boston actually had more shots on goal in the first period alone (20) than they did all of Saturday (18) but that hardly seems to matter since it once again ended in a loss. The Bruins dropped to 3-5-2 in their last 10 games while the Penguins jumped to five points ahead of them courtesy of their sixth straight win-they are also 8-2-0 in their last 10.
The lone goal for the Bruins came on the power play but not from who you'd expect: defenseman Matt Grzelcyk used a screen from left wing Nick Ritchie to score on a wrist shot from the point for his first goal of the season at 6:47 of the first period. Left wing Brad Marchand and right wing David Pastrnak provided the assists that gave Boston an all too brief lead. Matt's former BU teammate center Evan Rodrigues tied it with a true knuckle puck that Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak (23 saves, 6-4-2) couldn't glove cleanly before it trickled over the goal line. Right wing Kasperi Kapanen and center Evgeni Malkin had the assists on baby-faced Rodrigues' second goal of the season. Halak allowed another goal that I'm sure he'd like back when Pittsburgh's superstar center Sidney Crosby one-timed a low shot from a tough angle that Jaroslav couldn't contain for some reason. Left wing Jake Guentzel and BC defenseman Brian Dumoulin had the helpers on Crosby's 11th goal of the season at 18:34.
Down only 2-1 after the first period, Boston was still in it until Malkin scored a power play goal at 11:40 of the second period. His one-timer from the slot was his eighth goal of the season and it was assisted by Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang. A troubling trend for the Bruins is their lack of scoring punch in March as they've managed one goal or less in five of those seven contests. Yeesh. Guentzel's empty-net goal (his 11th goal of the season) at 19:44 of the third period wrapped it up for the Penguins who improved to a very impressive 12-2-0 at home.
Tomorrow's game (7, NESN) brings more uncertainty for the B's because Halak understandably won't start on back-to-back nights (and 3 times in the last 4 days) so it'll either be rookie Dan Vladar making his NHL debut or Providence's Jeremy Swayman-a rookie that went to the University of Maine-who has begun his pro career 7-0-0 in the AHL. For this reason, it's easy to predict that the Penguins will be a heavy favorite in the rematch. Even a pity point (losing in overtime or a shootout) would be a fine result for the Bruins since it feels like they are teetering on the verge of a major slump.
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