Sunday marked seven straight road losses for the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins (35-22-6) saw a three-goal lead vanish as they fell 5-4 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins (32-17-4) on Sunday. Pavel Zacha scored a hat trick, and David Pastrnak scored for the first time since January 27, but that meant little to them given the result.
“Having a two-goal lead going into the third, and playing really, overall, solid defense, and you just give it up in the third period. Not happy about that,” Marco Sturm said after the game. “At the end of the day, it’s a good point for us. Something we have to learn and move forward.”
Whether it is a good point for the Bruins can be debated; they led 3-0 late in the second period. On the other hand, they are now three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card.
Pavel Zacha scored a power play goal, and he added one more in each period for his second hat trick of the season. Zacha is now on a five-game point streak with three goals and four assists in that span.
“It was a good feeling in the moment,” Pavel Zacha said about the hat trick. “I think after [the] loss, you don’t really think about it anymore. You know, we’re leading most of the game, so it was a good feeling. I was able to score the third goal, but after the game, it kind of goes away if you don’t win.”
David Pastrnak also buried a goal, his first in nine games. He intercepted a pass from Arturs Silovs behind the net, wrapped it around, and banked it off the Penguins’ goalie and in.
“No,” he said when asked if he was relieved to score.
However, the Penguins controlled this game, and even more so after Pastrnak extended the Bruins’ lead.
The Penguins generated 61.54% of 5-on-5 shot attempts, winning the battle 64-40. They poured 39 shots on Joonas Korpisalo, who stopped 34. The Bruins only had 28 shots on net.
Image Courtesy of NaturalStatTrick
The Penguins also won the physical battle, outhitting the Bruins 24-17.
A 5-on-3 power play allowed Egor Chinakhov to get on the scoresheet in the second period.
Then, in the third period, things quickly got out of hand. The Penguins scored twice in 33 seconds and tied the game at three.
Connor Dewar spun around Jonathan Aspirot for the Penguins’ second goal. Anthony Mantha got away from Aspirot for the third goal, moving in all alone on Joonas Korpisalo.
What was a three-goal lead disappeared in a matter of 11 minutes and 51 seconds.
Marco Sturm called a timeout after the third Penguins’ goal.
“We didn’t handle those moments very well, and we didn’t do it again,” Sturm said about calling the timeout. “That’s why we got the second goal (of the third period), and I just wanted to calm the bench down. That’s all. Guys responded, but again, we just need to get better.”
Zacha’s hat-trick goal regained the lead right after the timeout, but the Penguins quickly responded and forced overtime with the tying goal. Anthony Mantha was left unmarked at the crease and buried a rebound.
Overtime did not last long.
Tommy Novak scored 17 seconds into the extra period, but not without controversy. Erik Karlsson stepped into the lane, setting a pick on David Pastrnak and sending him to the ice.
“I mean, it is a penalty,” David Pastrnak said. “We’ve been playing 3-on-3 for some time now, and these picks happen all the time. But, to me, it’s clear he stepped in my lane. Didn’t get called, cost us a point unfortunately.”
“At the end of the day, we won the faceoff, we shouldn’t be in that position. And we were up 3-1.”
For the Bruins, the struggles away from home continue. Their last road win was January 17 in Chicago. They have gone 0-3-4 since then.
“Yeah, no, of course we want to win, and we had a really good opportunity today,” Sturm said about the recent road struggles. “The difference today was [that] they didn’t stop skating. Pittsburgh, they played last night; they didn’t stop. That got us a little bit in trouble.”
“We made too many mistakes, too, a little bit, in the third. A few guys were just probably not sharp today like they are used to. But again, we got to move forward, that’s how I see it, and it’s a very big point for us.”
While the road is a struggle, home ice is not.
The Bruins will look to add to their 12-game home winning streak on Tuesday night at the TD Garden. Marco Sturm and the Bruins will host his old club, the Los Angeles Kings (25-23-14). They are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, but 15-8-7 on the road this season.