Penguins lose ground in playoff race as Bruins maintain Atlantic lead

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brad Marchand scored short-handed to cap Boston’s four-goal second period, and the Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 on Saturday night.

Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Morgan Geekie also scored as the Bruins regained the top spot in the Atlantic Division with their fifth win in six games. Linus Ullmark finished with 28 saves.

“I didn’t think we came out with a lot of emotion,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought (Pittsburgh) came out very desperate and they were the better team. Second period, I thought we got to our game.”

Michael Bunting scored twice, Drew O’Connor had a goal and an assist, and Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins, who lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games (7-1-3). Alex Nedeljkovic was pulled after giving up three goals on 16 shots midway through the second period. He was replaced by Tristan Jarry, who stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced.

The Penguins fell out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and now trail Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia by one point.

“We knew this was a tough stretch,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We knew it was going to be a tough one against one of the best teams in the league. Regardless of how this goes, we still have two more games to play.”

After O’Connor scored short-handed for Pittsburgh at 4:32 of the third to cut the deficit to 4-3, Geekie got his 17th of the season with 5:50 left to restore a two-goal lead.

Heinen added an empty-net goal with 2:47 remaining to seal the Bruins’ win.

“Obviously, (Pittsburgh) is fighting for their lives,” DeBrusk said. “There were some momentum shifts. We capitalized on our chances.”

Boston got rebound goals from DeBrusk and Zacha 14 seconds apart in the second period to take a 2-0 lead at 8:22. Zacha’s goal was his 20th and DeBrusk got his 19th.

Rust cut Pittsburgh’s deficit in half when he redirected O’Connor’s pass behind Ullmark 2:05 later for his career-high 28th.

Boston regained its two-goal advantage as Shattenkirk — back after missing three games as a healthy scratch — chased Nedeljkovic from the game with 8:25 left in the second for his sixth.

Marchand scored a short-handed goal on the first shot Jarry faced, giving Boston a 4-1 lead with 5:06 left in the middle period.

However, Bunting scored on the power play from the top of the crease 58 seconds later to get the Penguins to 4-2.

“We scored enough to win,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “It was just a matter of limiting their chances. We gave them some time and space and they have some skilled guys that will make you pay and they did that tonight.”

Penguins D Erik Karlsson became the 398th player in NHL history, and 46th active, to skate in 1,000 career games. Karlsson, who split his career between Ottawa, San Jose and Pittsburgh, is the 18th Swedish-born player to reach the milestone and he has 814 career points, ninth-most by a defenseman.

During pregame warmups, the Penguins all wore Karlsson’s No. 65 jersey. Before the game, Karlsson, on the ice with his family, was presented a silver hockey stick and other gifts commemorating the accomplishment and a video tribute aired with comments from Daniel Alfredsson, Joe Thornton and others.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Visit Washington on Monday night.

Penguins: Host Nashville on Monday night.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL