David Pastrnak had two goals, including one on a penalty shot, and the Boston Bruins blew past the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Boston outscored Pittsburgh 14-3 while sweeping the three-game season series.
Tuukka Rask made 41 saves for the Bruins. Jimmy Hayes, Landon Ferraro and Brad Marchand also scored.
Tom Kuhnhackl scored to bring Pittsburgh within 2-1 late in the second period. The puck went in off Kuhnhackl’s skate, and the goal survived a video review.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots, and Pittsburgh got its first regulation loss in its last five road games. The Penguins entered one point ahead of New Jersey for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Pastrnak was hacked by Derrick Pouliot as he split the faceoff circles late in the first, and then got his seventh goal on an ensuing penalty shot. The Bruins are 3 for 3 on penalty shots this season, and that’s the most they’ve taken since getting four attempts in 2009-10. It was also Pastrnak’s first penalty shot in his young career.
Pastrnak added his second goal 3 minutes into the second when he curled from behind the net — and while falling down — was able to slip it into the right corner of the net past Fleury.
After Kuhnhackl’s goal, Hayes gave the Bruins a two-goal cushion in the third. He took a last-second pass from Ryan Spooner on a breakaway and flipped it by Fleury with 9:26 left.
Ferraro made it 4-1 with 5:34 left after Olli Maatta whiffed trying to knock down Dennis Seidenberg’s zone clearance.
About a minute later, Marchand was in the slot when the puck made its way to his feet. He gathered it and put it into the net to make it 5-1.
The Penguins stayed close early despite playing without a pair of key players. Center and second-leading scorer Evgeni Malkin was out for the 10th straight game with a lower-body injury, and Nick Bonino missed his 17th straight game with a hand injury. Both players practiced on Tuesday for the first time since their respective injuries.
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