Bruins at Penguins
The Boston Bruins can continue their good fortune and add to the troubles of the spiraling Pittsburgh Penguins in one fell swoop on Friday when the teams complete their home-and-home series at Consol Energy Center. Tuukka Rask turned aside all 34 shots he faced to notch his league high-tying fourth shutout on Wednesday as Boston posted a 3-0 victory to improve to 9-1-3 in its last 13 contests.
"He's been feeling it for a little while, maybe the last month," Bruins coach Claude Julien said of Rask, who owns a 7-0-2 mark with a stingy 1.36 goals-against average in his last nine decisions. The 2014 Vezina Trophy winner has stopped all but two of his last 111 shots during his season-high four-game winning streak. That's not exactly music to the ears of Pittsburgh, which has been outscored 7-1 en route to losing both contests under the watch of new coach Mike Sullivan. "Once we get one or two, hopefully the floodgates open up for us," captain Sidney Crosby said after the team fell to 2-4-3 in its last nine.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), TVA, ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (17-9-4): Former Penguin Max Talbot picked a fine time to record his first goal of the season, beating Jeff Zatkoff to open the scoring midway into the first period. "I'm always glass-half-full," Talbot told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of his earlier troubles, which saw him toil in Providence of the American Hockey League. "I've been keeping it light. When I get up here, I try to stay up here."
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (15-12-3): Although his team is struggling, Sullivan did his best to focus on the positives. "Well, I think we are getting some chances, we are generating some chances," Sullivan said. "For me, what I see is we have to do a better job playing smarter. I think we are playing hard. I think our energy is there. I think our effort is there." Success on the power play certainly isn't there, as the club has failed on all 14 of its man-advantage opportunities over the last six games.
OVERTIME
1. Boston C Patrice Bergeron has collected one goal and six assists during his six-game point streak.
2. Pittsburgh, which has scored just 2.23 goals per contest, resides 28th in the league in offense.
3. The Bruins are 5-0-1 in their past six meetings with the Penguins (1-3-2).