Penguins at Bruins

Rare is the night when the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t have Sidney Crosby in their lineup and start Evgeni Malkin at left wing, but that’s the state of the franchise amidst a surprise campaign that has Pittsburgh in second place in the Metro Division and looking like a 2025-26 playoff team. But, less than 72 hours before the NHL trade deadline, here they are.

FIRST PERIOD

The Bruins get two clean, all-alone scoring chances on Stuart Skinner, who turns both shots away. At the other end, Erik Karlsson’s deliberate shot from the right point finds a hole and beats a screened Jeremy Swayman to make it 1-0 Pittsburgh. The Bruins challenge for goalie interference, lose, but kill the ensuing penalty for delay of game via the failed challenge.

The Bruins press on, and at 5:10 Marat Khusnutdinov ties the game with a flick of the wrists from the right circle, and it’s 1-1.

Casey Mittelstadt is in the right place at the time to plant a rebound and it’s 2-1 Boston only six minutes in. The Penguins call timeout, and Dan Muse offers his team some musings.

If Mike Keenan were coaching tonight, he’d have pulled both goalies by now.

Not saying that’s fair, just picturing it all happening.

Malkin wheels in his own zone and fires a long pass that Hampus Lindholm knocks down, right into the path of onrushing forward Egor Chinakov, who pulls the puck to his backhand but hits the post.

Along the way before the Bruins established the lead in this game, Swayman faced a lone forward and turned away the chance, a major save when the Bruins needed one.

Old friend Noel Acciari is all alone, but Swayman says no.

Connor Clifton takes down David Pastrnak, gets a penalty, shoves Pastrnak, a Bruins shoves down Clifton, who is irate but immediately bear-hugged by the linesman. Pittsburgh gets the kill, and the period ends 2-1 Boston.

Shots 12-7 Bruins.

As an aside, restraining Clifton contradicts the NHL’s public stance on fighting. The league has indicated it wants to rid the game of staged fights, but those are the ones that perpetuate like a commercial stoppage rarely related to the actual play. Meantime, Clifton wanted to find someone and have a go, and the officials shut him down. The organic hockey fight is the one the league will not allow. It’s bass-ackwards. I digress.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bruins kill the Jonathan Aspirot penalty stemming from the final 1:20 of the first period for tripping Ben Kindel, the 11th overall pick in the 2025 draft who has impacted the Penguins at age 18. Tommy Novak, a journeyman by comparison, is at 28 playing the second-line center position with Crosby out and Malkin on LW. A third-rounder from St. Paul, MN, Novak came from Nashville at the 2025 trade deadline in the deal that sent Michael Bunting to the Predators.

The second period has seen both teams resdiscover their structure, so the scoring chances have dwindled, but the Penguins generated a greasy one midway through the period in part because of some nifty puck management involving Clifton and RW Bryan Rust.

Chinakhov to the penalty box at 10:34, and the Bruins to the powerplay. Nikita Zadorov had put a check on Malkin, who returned with a crosscheck to the back – Zadorov complained to no avail – then Mikey Eyssimont got tripped right in front of the penalty box – no call – so the Bruins were one solid play away from getting a call, and it happened on a zone entry involving the Lindholms, Hampus and Elias, but Skinner denied the scoring chance. After the whistle, Elias Lindholm went to have a word with Erik Karlsson, probably not in English.

Rust picks off a pass, then Kindel causes some disruption to Morgan Geekie’s progress up the ice with the puck when the whistle blows, sending Viktor Arvidsson to the box to serve Boston’s penalty for too many men on the ice.

Sloppy waste of an opportunity in a one-goal game. The Penguins put on a more intense powerplay, and Swayman makes two saves. With seven seconds left on the PIM, Kris Letang fires from the left point, but Swayman is there to gobble it up. Bruins get the kill with 6:04 left in the second period.

Geekie found Tanner Jeannot but too tight to Skinner, who sealed off the attempt.

Old friend Justin Brazeau gets an angle, but Swayman flashes the blocker and knocks his shot aside.

Penalty on Anthony Mantha with 1:35 left in the second period. Bruins to the powerplay…

Good powerplay energized by some nifty plays off the walls by Mittelstadt, not the least of which was his stop on Malkin’s hard-around clearing attempt. Twenty-five seconds will carry into the third period.

Shots through two: 23-22 Boston

THIRD PERIOD

Acciari, the former Bruins grinder from Johnston, RI, has been very effective tonight for Pittsburgh, whhich has pushed hard for the equalizer, coming very close on multiple occasions.

Karlsson put a move on Mittelstadt, and while the Bruins got the kill, the Penguins have gotten momentum from that powerplay and continue to pepper Swayman, who was up to 28 saves by the 6:08 mark of the third period.

Pittsburgh has also hit posts.

The Bruins needed the TV timeout at 6:08 to shake themselves off and remember that they probably need another goal tonight. A 13-minute penalty kill will not do.

Midway through the third, the Bruins achieve their first sustained zone time of the third period, energized mainly by Khustnudinov and Mason Lohrei. Eyssimont as well.

The Bruins need to win some 50/50s.

Mark Kastelic just did from Kevin Hayes, but the Bruins can’t make anything out of it.

The Penguins roar back, and despite Kastelic diving to block a centering pass, it’s Karlsson with all day drifting into the slot. His shot is low right, but Swayman goes Toivonen-low and wide on the butterfly, making his biggest save of the game with 8:28 remaining in regulation.

Geekie knocks down a clear at the left point, has boatloads of room, but his misses the net. [Rink Rap: When Geekie slots on RW, scoring chances are harder to come by so, when he gets one, he’s more likely to press.]

McAvoy collides with a teammate. The Bruins avert disaster, but McAvoy removed his helmet at the bench during the TV timeout. He’s back out there on a D-zone power pairing with Hampus Lindholm. The Bruins win the draw and get the puck out of harm’s way.

Looks like Coach Marco Sturm has shortened his bench for the final five minutes of regulation.