In Pittsburgh, the Penguins were looking for a little kindness at home after a rough road trip.
Instead, they were handed a 6-5 loss by the Boston Bruins in extra time, in a come from behind win.
The Bruins scored twice in the third period to rally back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game, 5-5, and force the extra session. Pavel Zacha and Taylor Hall were the strikers in the third.
“The cliche line is you keep playing, you keep believing,” Hall said. “I think it’s so true. We weren’t getting run out of the building by any means. … So, it’s a huge win. Not that we’re not a confident team, but to show that when you’re down three, just keep chugging along.”
Hampus Lindholm hit for the winner in extra time with 83 seconds left on the clock.
“I’ve been feeling pretty confident about my game, so I knew it’s a 60-minute hockey game,” Lindholm said. “Fell behind there a little bit early, but 60 minutes of hockey, so you just try to stick with it. Tonight’s one of those nights where it went our way.”
Linus Ullmark got the start for the Bruins, but was given the hook midway through the second period. He had surrendered five goals to the Pens, and made 18 saves.
Jeremy Swayman came into the game in relief, he made four saves before leaving the game with an apparent injury.
Ullmark returned and made 11 saves the rest of the way without yielding a goal.
The Penguins have lost five straight, 0-5-1.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way to win games,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “When you’ve got a two-goal lead heading into the third, you’re in a good position to win. We had opportunities to win. We didn’t take advantage of it.”
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored for the Pens.
Crosby‘s goal was just 30 seconds into the game.
“We’re just giving up too much,” Crosby said. “We finally got a lead, we didn’t do a good enough job. … We did a lot of good things. I think it was one of our better games, for the most part. But we’ve got to find a way to close it out.”
Charlie Coyle tied it, 1-1, for Boston, and Jakub Lauko gave Boston a 2-1 lead.
From there, Pittsburgh scored four straight goals to take a 5-2 lead in the second period.
Malkin hit for a goal to tie it, 2-2, then Josh Archibald,Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell scored for the 5-2 advantage.
“I think we’re building right now,” said Pittsburgh forward Brock McGinn, who had two assists. “I think we played a little better tonight. We just have to go out tomorrow (against the Buffalo Sabres) and play again.”
Boston’s Brad Marchand hit for a power play goal in the second period to make it 5-3 heading to the third.
“I’m sitting there and I’m like, ‘We’re generating chances. I just love the fight in this team,'” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “There’s like nine minutes left. Might not be our night. But geez, it was.”
Tristan Jarry made 35 saves in the loss.
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