The Penguins, fresh off a dominant win over Vegas, rolled into TD Garden on Tuesday looking to keep the momentum alive. They jumped out to an early lead with a goal by Erik Karlsson, but the Bruins flipped the script, striking twice in just 50 seconds to take a 2-1 advantage. Casey Mittelstadt and Marat Khusnutdinov each scored for Boston. While the offense provided an early spark, Jeremy Swayman was the anchor the rest of the way, turning aside 34 shots, including all 28 shots he faced in the second and third period, helping the Bruins secure the victory. The Penguins are back home on Thursday to host the Buffalo Sabres, while the Bruins head to Nashville.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:

Chinakhov – Novak – Malkin
Rakell – Kindel – Rust
Mantha – K. Hayes – Brazeau
A. Hayes – Dewar – Acciari

Wotherspoon – Karlsson
Girard – Letang
Shea – Clifton

Skinner
Silovs

Boston Bruins Lineup:

Khusnutdinov – E. Lindholm – Pastrnak
Mittelstadt – Zacha – Arvidsson
Eyssimont – Minten – Geekie
Jeannot – Kuraly – Kastelic

Aspirot – McAvoy
H. Lindholm – Lohrei
Zadorov – Peeke

Swayman
Korpisalo

Erik Karlsson opened the scoring to put the Penguins ahead 1-0 only 42 seconds in the first period, recording his fifth goal of the season when he scored on a wrist shot from near the blue line through traffic and went in past a screened Jeremy Swayman. Following a turnover by Charlie McAvoy, Bryan Rust picked up the puck behind the net before moving it back up to the right point. At 14:50, Marat Khusnutdinov tied it up 1-1 with his 13th of the season, scoring off a quick wrister from the right face-off dot to beat Stuart Skinner to the far post after Michael Eyssimont dug the puck out of the corner and fed Khusnutdinov to get Boston on the board. Less than a minute later, at 14:00 of the first, Casey Mittelstadt scored on a rebound after he won a puck battle in the corner, found a wide-open Nikita Zadorov at the top of the slot. Skinner denied Zadorov’s shot before the rebound found its way to Mittelstadt, who scored from below the right circle past a diving Skinner to make it 2-1 for the Bruins. This was Mittelstadt’s 13th goal of the season.

Game Notes:

– Stuart Skinner made a total of 26 saves for Pittsburgh.

– The Bruins are 34-21-5, and have lost three of four overall (1-1-2), but they extended their home winning streak to 11 games.

– The Penguins are 31-16-13, and their five-game point streak was put to an end (3-0-2).

– Pittsburgh opened the scoring 42 seconds into the first period. This season, the Penguins have scored five goals within the opening minute of a game, which is the second most behind only the Colorado Avalanche (6).

– Boston had two goals scored 50 seconds apart. Their two fastest goals this season were on January 22 with Charlie McAvoy and Elias Lindholm (30 seconds).

– This was the Bruins’ 11th consecutive home win. They tie the Tampa Bay Lightning (11 GP) for the second-longest streak this season behind the Avalanche (17 GP). …Their 11-game home winning streak is tied for the eighth-longest in franchise history, and the lengthiest by the Bruins since a 14-game run in 2022-23. 

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