Penguins' offense bottled up by physical Bruins in 4-1 loss
BOSTON — The Boston Bruins no longer are big and bad. That style of play went out after the 1970s, much like bell bottoms and Buick Centurions.
It probably is more accurate — albeit less phonetically pleasing — to describe the Bruins of the early 2020s as moderately imposing and menacing.
A relentless physical approach allowed them to stymie the fleet Penguins who couldn’t get their typically potent offense on track in a 4-1 loss Thursday at TD Garden.
The Bruins harassed, pestered and generally vexed the Penguins throughout a combative contest that featured five roughing minors, a boarding infraction and even a fight between Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist and Bruins defenseman Torey Krug at 18 minutes, 11 seconds of the second period.
“They were quicker to the second and third pucks and battles,” Hornqvist said. “That’s why they won the game. We didn’t play good enough to beat a good team. You have to give them credit. They were hard to play against. They were in our faces. We really couldn’t battle back.”
The Penguins opened the scoring 24 seconds into the game. Pushing a puck out of his own zone, Penguins forward Dominik Simon pulled up in front of his bench and fed a cross-ice pass to forward Sidney Crosby driving up the left wing. From above the left dot, Crosby wound up and clapped a 1980s-level slapper that beat a 1980s-level attempt at a glove save by goaltender Jaroslav Halak on the far side for his seventh goal of the season.
A little bit of luck got the Bruins on the scoreboard at 10:03 of the first period. Off a pass from Bruins rookie forward Karson Kuhlman, forward Sean Kuraly lobbed a seemingly innocent wrister off the left half wall that glanced off of the right calf of Johnson and deflected past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s right shoulder on the near side. Kuraly was credited with his fourth goal.
Boston took its first lead at 12:16 of the first. After Bruins forward Danton Heinen hounded Penguins forward Teddy Blueger into a turnover in the Penguins’ right circle, Kuhlman ended up with the puck in the high slot. Identifying a passing lane, Kuhlman zipped a sharp forehand just inside the right circle, where Bruins forward Par Lindholm deflected it with his backhand past Jarry’s glove on the near side. It was Lindholm’s third goal.
The Penguins had an opportunity to tie the score late in the second, but a two-on-none rush between forwards Bryan Rust and Zach Aston-Reese resulted in four shots and four spectacular saves by Halak, a longtime nemesis of the Penguins.
It became a 3-1 game only 3:19 into the third period. Claiming a puck on the Penguins’ left half wall, Bruins forward David Pastrnak spun off a check from Penguins defenseman John Marino and fed a pass to the left circle for forward Patrice Bergeron, who gripped and ripped a wrister past Jarry’s glove on the near side for his 20th goal.
An empty-net goal by Bruins forward Brad Marchand at 19:07 of the third capped the scoring.
“I don’t think we had the jump we normally have,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t have as many clean plays. We didn’t control territory like we’re capable. It starts with puck battles. You’ve got to win puck battles. You’ve got to have support around the puck when you’re in the puck battles. There’s a lot of details that go into it but we just weren’t good enough.”
It would be a little myopic to conclude the Bruins’ bruising nature was the reason they won, but it was clearly a tactic they tried to implement and did so with success.
The Penguins realize they better get used to that in the final months of the regular season.
“We’re going to see that a lot,” Crosby said. “That’s not the first team that’s going to try to be physical. We had times where we were able to get some good hits in too. That’s hockey. Just (make) sure that we play the same way and finish our hits when we get the chance. We don’t need to change anything if that’s the case.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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