Craig Smith scored the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining in overtime as the Boston Bruins edged the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 Tuesday night.
Smith converted a 2-on-0 with David Krejci to extend the Bruins’ winning streak to three. Brad Marchand and Nick Ritchie scored in regulation, and Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots in net.
Jason Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen tallied during a third-period rally for the Penguins, whose four-game winning streak came to an end. Tristan Jarry had 33 saves.
Evgeni Malkin rung the crossbar on a breakaway during overtime. He had another golden chance as part of a Pittsburgh 3-on-0 that failed before Boston took advantage on Smith’s unmanned tally.
Still, yet another comeback helped the Penguins force the extra period. Seconds after the visitors wasted their sixth power play of the night, Zucker’s snipe from the dot made it 2-1 with 10:13 remaining.
Rask appeared injured during the offensive push, grabbing his lower body immediately after the goal, but he stayed in the game. Though he denied Kapanen on a breakaway with just over five minutes left, the forward got another chance and poked the puck in from the crease at 16:44 to knot the score.
The Bruins scored on the Penguins’ first power play when Sidney Crosby’s pass to Jared McCann bounced off his stick to Charlie McAvoy, who found Marchand one-on-one in the offensive zone with defenseman Kris Letang. Marchand fired top shelf to beat Jarry for a 1-0 lead at 7:41 of the first.
After two more failed power-play chances for Pittsburgh, Boston got its turn with a 5-on-3 in the second. Ritchie took advantage with a redirect of a Marchand pass from the top of the crease at 7:58.
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) was a late scratch for Boston. Forward Jake DeBrusk sustained a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return, while Pittsburgh defender Brian Dumoulin was injured in the second and similarly exited. Forward Drew O’Connor made his NHL debut for the Penguins and assisted on Zucker’s tally.


Panthers pull even late, edge Blue Jackets in shootout
Patric Hornqvist scored with three seconds left in regulation and then got the deciding goal in a shootout, leading the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
The win gave Florida a 3-0-0 start for the first time in franchise history. The Panthers rallied from a 2-0, first-period deficit and also survived a penalty in overtime. Hornqvist, with his team-high fourth goal of the season, whacked the puck out of the air and in to set up the dramatics in OT and in the shootout.
Kevin Stenlund, Alexandre Texier and Cam Atkinson scored for Columbus, and Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves. It was Texier’s team-high fourth goal of the season.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for Florida, Aleksander Barkov also scored, and Anthony Duclair had two assists. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky – a former Blue Jackets star – made 19 saves to beat his former team. Florida hadn’t played since January 19 due to postponements prompted by Covid-19 issues with its opponents. The Panthers are tied with the Dallas Stars for the fewest games played in the NHL.
The Blue Jackets are still awaiting the arrival of winger Patrik Laine and young center Jack Roslovic after acquiring them in a Saturday trade.