Bruins No Match for Pens

Boston fans had to be disappointed in their team Thursday. Not only did the Bruins fail to score on a measly 17 shots, but they didn’t exact any significant form of revenge on Matt Cooke for his hit on Marc Savard. In fact, the home team was so bad, their fans practically booed them off the ice after Pittsburgh’s 3-0 win.

As for Cooke, he manned up and fought Boston enforcer Shawn Thornton early in the first period. It was a victory in that Cooke survived without injury. Sure, Thornton whooped him, but the important thing was #24 didn’t back down and engaged the toughest guy on the Bruins’ roster. There really wasn’t any additional fireworks, save for a spirited second-period scrap between Zdeno Chara and Mike Rupp. The Boston faithful wanted blood, but they didn’t get any. Who knows? Maybe Colin Campbell’s pre-game speech actually calmed the storm.

The Bruins talked before the game about how it was more important to get two points than goon it up. If that was the case, this one had to really hurt. To put Boston’s performance in perspective, Thornton (6:17 TOI, 15 PIM) was named the game’s third star.

Tyler Kennedy got the only goal the Pens needed 8:34 in when he scored off a 2-on-1 break. It was TK’s first goal in 19 games. Boston had only 10 shots through two periods, and the Pens outshot the Bs 12-0 over the first five minutes of the second. It was a pretty impressive display, as the Pens absolutely dominated puck possession over that span. But it was still only a one-goal game until Alex Ponikarovsky deflected Kris Letang’s shot home with 14 seconds left in the second. That goal was huge – it gave the Pens all momentum and absolutely killed the Bruins. Mike Rupp scored an unassisted goal off a great individual effort five minutes into the third to seal the deal.

Great game for the Pens, who earned their first shutout of the season. I’ll credit the “extra luvin” Marc-Andre Fleury gave to his crossbar early in the first. On the broadcast, Errey detailed Fleury’s reaction rather graphically (thanks for the visual, Bob) after a Chara shot clanged off the post. Hey, whatever works.

Malkin didn’t play for the second game in a row and is still day-to-day. Eric Godard dressed for the first time in a while, played 3:31 and provided some insurance just in case things got out of hand. Max Talbot was a healthy scratch.

New Jersey lost to Toronto in a shootout (yeah, that makes sense) last night, so the Pens pull a point ahead in the division race. The team went 2-2-1 on their five-game road trip, earning five out of 10 possible points (not too bad). The Pens host Carolina Saturday at 1:00.