Sports

Bruins fight hard but fall short in Pittsburgh

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins went into Pittsburgh looking for their fourth win in a row.  They battled hard, put 51 shots on Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith and even came back from a two goal third period deficit to tie it up, but in the end the Penguins win 5-3 to end the Bruins winning streak.

The Penguins scored the games first two goals with Derek Grant beating Jaroslav Halak at the end of the first period and then Phil Kessel getting his 13th of the year to start the second period.

The Bruins cut that lead in half when Brandon Carlo scored his first goal of the year on a snap shot from the right point.

But after a furious Bruins power play to end the second period, the Penguins came back and scored a shorthanded goal by Zach Astin-Reese with 58 seconds to go in the period.

So down 3-1 to start the third period the Bruins came storming back. With 12:52 left in the game, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy pinched in from the right point and set up Charlie Wagner with a beautiful pass. Wagner scored high on the right side of Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith to cut the lead to 3-2.

Less than a minute later the Bruins tied it up when Brad Marchand set up David Pastrnak who again went high on DeSmith.  The puck hit the crossbar and came straight down. Pastrnak though he scored but the puck did not go in the net but David Krecji was there to knock in the rebound to make it 3-3.

But several minutes later, Penguins defenseman Jake Guentzel's shot from the point was tipped on the way to the net by a Bruins stick and it beats Jaroslav Halak between his pads for the 4-3 lead.

Zach Astin Reese added an empty net goal for the 5-3 final.

The Bruins are off Saturday but will host the Buffalo Sabres at the Garden Sunday night at 5:00.