The Bruins turned two points in one Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Up 3-0, the Bruins took their foot completely off the gas and allowed the Penguins to claw back into things to a 3-3 tie in the third period.
But as bad as that was, the Bruins even jumped back out to a 4-3 lead before regulation… only to let it slip once again and then fall by a 5-4 overtime final to the Penguins. It was about as bad a loss as you could have this time of year.
For the Penguins, this marked the first time that a Pittsburgh team overcame a three-goal deficit without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin since Feb. 2001.
Here’s a look at the 985TheSportsHub.com 3 Stars of the game…
3rd Star: Egor Chinakhov
Mar 8, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Penguins right wing Egor Chinakhov (59) celebrates his power play goal against the Bruins at PPG Paints Arena. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
After their power play was downright frustrated by Boston’s penalty kill last week, the Penguins made sure to capitalize on an extended 5-on-3 in the second period. And it was that goal, scored by the Penguins’ Egor Chinakhov, that really got things going for the club in their comeback.
In addition to the goal, Chinakhov also pestered the absolute hell out of Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy to force the turnover that led to Tommy Novak’s game-winning overtime goal just one shift into the fourth period.
2nd Star: Anthony Mantha
Mar 8, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Penguins right wing Anthony Mantha (39) moves the puck against Boston Bruins center Fraser Minten (93) at PPG Paints Arena. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
The Pens’ Anthony Mantha made his presence felt in this one in a major way.
Deployed for 15:14 by the day’s time, Mantha had two separate game-tying goals in the third period of this one, and scored both of them in an under five-minute span in the middle of the period.
1st Star: Pavel Zacha
Mar 8, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) reacts after scoring his third goal of the game against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
The Bruins shouldn’t waste a hat trick anybody, to be honest. But the Bruins should never, ever waste a hat trick from Pavel Zacha. If only because getting him to shoot the puck like he did in Sunday’s loss is a definite rarity.
In what was his second hat trick of the season (and the second of his career), Zacha was straight-up lethal with the puck on his stick, and is now up to 19 goals on the season. Obviously, it’s not fair to expect Zacha to put up a hat trick every other month, but one thing that’s definitely helped him this season has been landing his shot on goal at a higher clip than in previous seasons.