Playing in the second night of a back-to-back on the road against the NHL's hottest team-the Pittsburgh Penguins-proved to be too much for the Bruins tonight at the Consol Energy Center. Boston (17-4-3) actually led 2-0 in the first period but the Penguins (19-8-0) rallied for a pair of goals in the third period before Brandon Sutter won it with the game-winner at 17:57. Pittsburgh captured its sixth game in a row but on the bright side at least the B's didn't have to go to overtime or another shootout again.
Zdeno Chara's power play goal (his 5th goal of the season) at 4:45, from Dennis Seidenberg and Rich Peverley, was a bomb from the point followed by Tyler Seguin's goal (his 9th of the season) which gave the Bruins a shocking 2-0 lead at 13:30. Seguin's was the result of tic-tac-toe passing between his linemates Brad Marchand (who won the puck along the end boards) and Patrice Bergeron. He roofed it by Marc-Andre Fleury (14 saves).
Anton Khudobin (4-2-0) got the start and he deserved a better result since he made 31 saves. After they scored their goals, Boston went into a deep slumber the likes of which their team logo is best known for. Khudobin kept them afloat for as long as he could that is until two crappy turnovers and one sublime finish proved to be a deadly combination.
Chris Kunitz got Pittsburgh on the board with his 18th goal of the season at 13:42, a laser of a one-timer over Khudobin's shoulder that was assisted by Kris Letang and Deryk Engelland. Sutter was the unlikely hero thanks to the gifts from Boston's leaky defensemen who couldn't help but hand him the puck in prime locations. He tied it at 14:33 from James Neal and Beau Bennett. His game-winner was fittingly unassisted although it would have been Dennis Seidenberg's best assist of the season if only they were on the same team.
Now officially halfway through this lockout-shortened season, Boston survived this three games in four days (2-1-0) segment and for their troubles they get to return to TD Garden to begin another three games in four days stretch. The worst team in the NHL-the Florida Panthers (7-14-6)-visit on Thursday night (7 p.m., NESN) in a game that the B's need to have before they start playing other legitimate NHL teams later in the week.
UPDATE 3/13: Chris Kelly is out indefinitely with a broken left tibia, suffered Monday in Ottawa. Ugh, this is the first major injury for the Bruins this season so get used to seeing Jay Pandolfo in the lineup every game for a while.
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