Bruins 4, Penguins 3 (OT)
BOSTON -- Another game, another overtime win for the Boston Bruins.
After Pittsburgh forced OT with a goal in the final second of regulation, rookie defenseman Torey Krug blasted one past Marc-Andre Fleury 34 seconds into overtime to give the Bruins a 4-3 victory on Monday night.
Right wing Loui Eriksson, who had a goal and an assist in the first period, assisted on Krug's seventh goal of the season to give the Bruins their second straight overtime win.
It was the first regular-season defeat suffered by the Penguins in Boston in seven games and was their first regular-season loss to the Bruins in the last eight overall. The Bruins swept the Penguins in last spring's Eastern Conference finals.
Goalie Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots and played a strong game for the Bruins (16-6-2), who are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games.
Fleury had 20 saves for Pittsburgh (15-9-1), which lost its second straight.
With Fleury pulled for an extra attacker, the Penguins weren't able to get any pressure on Rask as regulation time was running out. But left winger James Neal, who had two goals, threw the puck toward the net, winger Chris Kunitz furthered its path and center Sidney Crosby hammered it home from the crease as time ran out.
The play was reviewed, but it was clear Crosby's 13th goal of the season would count. It was ruled in with three-tenths of a second remaining.
Boston was outshot 10-1 in the early going, but Pittsburgh's 10th and final shot of the first period came 8:27 into the period -- and the Bruins recovered from the slow start to grab a 2-0 lead.
First, left winger Carl Soderberg got the puck through traffic and a breaking Eriksson slid a backhander past Fleury at 12:27 of the opening period.
Right winger Pascal Dupuis went off for hooking at 15:34 and all five Bruins on the ice touched the puck in a span of nine seconds for the second goal. Soderberg found right winger Reilly Smith cruising down the slot for his second goal in as many games and fourth overall.
It was the first power-play goal against the Penguins in seven games, the second in the last 13.
Pittsburgh broke through early in the second period, with left winger Jussi Jokinen hitting Neal in the middle and Neal beating Rask just 37 seconds into the period.
The Penguins tied the game on Neal's goal -- on Jokinen's second assist -- with 8:51 left in the third period. Pittsburgh cashed in on defenseman Johnny Boychuk not being able to corral the puck.
Neal has six goals on the season, four in the last two games.
The Bruins grabbed the lead back at 3-2 when defenseman Zdeno Chara's shot got through a heavy screen with 5:15 left. It was Chara's fifth goal of the season.
NOTES: The Bruins were still missing injured defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid, with McQuaid (eighth game out) practicing and getting closer to a return. ... Penguins coach Dan Bylsma indicated injured RW Beau Bennett and LW Tanner Glass could both be out awhile. "I don't have anything definitive right now," Bylsma said after the morning skate. Bennett was injured last Friday, Glass Saturday. ... The Penguins host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, expecting their 300th straight home sellout. The Bruins play the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday. ... Bruins D Matt Bartkowski, a Pittsburgh-area product, played in his NHL season-high 12th game Monday night. ... Penguins C Evgeni Malkin was named the NHL's No. 1 star for last week, when he had a goal and seven assists in four games. ... New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman, who scored two touchdowns Sunday night, was at the game.
