Bryan Rust scored 1:24 into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins their seventh straight win, 4-3 against the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena. Rust shot into the upper-left corner of the net behind goalie Tuukka Rask for the game-winner. It was Rust's second goal in as many games and fifth in five games. After Conor Sheary gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal 9:02 into the third period, David Pastrnak tied it 3-3 on his Bruins-leading 19th goal with 6:40 remaining. Pastrnak trails Sidney Crosby by two goals for the NHL lead. The Penguins (20-7-3) have scored 39 goals during their winning streak. The Bruins (16-12-3) have lost four of their past five (1-2-2) after winning their previous three. Brad Marchand gave Boston a 1-0 lead with 9:12 remaining in the first period. David Backes left the puck at the top of the circle, and Marchand shot through traffic and goalie Matt Murray's five-hole for his ninth goal this season and second in three games. Justin Schultz tied it 1-1 2:01 later. Crosby got the puck against the far wall and sent a cross-ice pass to Schultz, who skated to the top of the circle before shooting into the upper-left corner with 7:11 left in the first. It was his fifth goal of the season; he had four last season. David Krejci gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead 6:40 into the second period when he shot his rebound past Murray to end a five-game goal drought. Nick Bonino scored his second goal in as many games, fifth of the season, on a power play to tie it 2-2 at 9:47 of the second.
* Rust outraced Ryan Spooner to a chipped pass from Evgeni Malkin at the bottom of the left circle. Rust reached the puck and backhanded a shot over Rask's blocker.
* Trevor Daley put a slap shot off Rask's mask, which caused him to fall at the top of his crease. Scott Wilson got to the rebound and attempted a backhand shot, but Rask extended his stick to stop and freeze the puck at 3:07 of the third period.
* Pastrnak tied the game when he wrapped around the net with Murray out of position. Pastrnak's backhand went through Bonino's knees before it slid into the net.
"I think it was a pretty evenly matched game. There were chances both ways. I obviously think we could've played better, but the ultimate result was a win." Conor Sheary
"It's the same routine I've always had. It's just finally starting to work for me. The ice wasn't great in overtime, obviously, after playing a whole game. So I was just trying to kind of catch Rask off guard and I was lucky enough to do that." Rust said.
* Trevor Daley put a slap shot off Rask's mask, which caused him to fall at the top of his crease. Scott Wilson got to the rebound and attempted a backhand shot, but Rask extended his stick to stop and freeze the puck at 3:07 of the third period.
* Pastrnak tied the game when he wrapped around the net with Murray out of position. Pastrnak's backhand went through Bonino's knees before it slid into the net.
* The Bruins had a chance to take a 3-2 lead after Malkin was called for hooking Dominic Moore at 11:31 of the second period. Pittsburgh killed its fourth penalty to preserve the tie entering the third.
* Defenseman Zdeno Chara played a Bruins-high 27:07 in his 1,300th NHL game. … Crosby extended his point streak to nine games with an assist on Schultz's goal but his goal streak ended at four games. … Schultz (goal, two assists) had his first three-point game since April 27, 2013, when he had four points (one goal, three assists) for the Edmonton Oilers against the Vancouver Canucks. ... Murray started a fourth consecutive game since backing up goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in three straight from Dec. 1-5.
"I think it was a pretty evenly matched game. There were chances both ways. I obviously think we could've played better, but the ultimate result was a win." Conor Sheary
"It's the same routine I've always had. It's just finally starting to work for me. The ice wasn't great in overtime, obviously, after playing a whole game. So I was just trying to kind of catch Rask off guard and I was lucky enough to do that." Rust said.
"We certainly found a way to win. It wasn't the cleanest game in the world from our standpoint. We've been better as of late, but I think, once again, I give Boston a lot of credit. They're a hard team to play against. They compete hard." Mike Sullivan said.
Los Angeles Kings @ Penguins 1-0 OT - Friday, December 16, 2016
Los Angeles Kings goalie Peter Budaj solved the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday like no other goalie had throughout December. Budaj made 39 saves, and Tyler Toffoli scored 1:00 into overtime to help the Kings win 1-0 at PPG Paints Arena, ending the Penguins winning streak at seven. Toffoli shot past Matt Murray's glove to score his eighth goal. Budaj responded well from being pulled after allowing four goals on 22 shots in his last start, a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. He said the shutout, his third of the season, was more gratifying given Pittsburgh's recent play. The Penguins scored 39 goals in their previous seven December games. Murray, who had won five straight, made 27 saves in his fifth consecutive start since backing up Marc-Andre Fleury for three straight from Dec. 1-5. Murray is 12-2-1 this season since returning from a broken hand Nov. 2. The Kings (16-12-2) have won two of three games to start their nine-game road trip. They are 6-8-1 on the road this season. The Penguins (20-7-4) are 7-0-1 this month after going 7-5-2 in November. Pittsburgh could have taken the lead in the first period when Los Angeles was called for too many men on the ice after Toffoli went off for slashing, giving the Penguins a 5-on-3 for 30 seconds at 13:38. The Kings killed each penalty. The Penguins outshot the Kings 20-9 in the second period. Budaj made two impressive saves with 8:19 remaining in the second period when Sidney Crosby set up Conor Sheary near the crease. After Sheary's wrist shot was turned away, he batted a second attempt out of midair, which Budaj also denied. Pittsburgh defenseman Trevor Daley did not return for the third after sustaining an apparent injury in the second period.
* Penguins forward Scott Wilson passed from behind the net to Tom Kuhnhackl near the right post. Kuhnhackl sent a shot on net and attempted to stuff several other chances past the goal line, but Budaj covered the puck with 7:25 remaining in the second period.
* Derrick Pouliot played 18:19, primarily because Pittsburgh was down to four defensemen for the first half of the third period with Daley out and Brian Dumoulin in the locker room after taking a puck to the face from a Marian Gaborik shot. Pouliot played less than 18:19 in 19 of 22 games last season.
* Los Angeles started Budaj after starting former Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. … Crosby failed to score a goal in a second straight game for the first time in 25 games this season. He leads the NHL with 21 goals.
"It doesn't matter whether there's 50 shots or 10 shots. I focus the same way and you worry about stopping the next one. … I'm not out there to score goals. I don't worry about how many goals we're going to score because that's out of my control." Murray said.
"I like the fact that we're looking to put the puck to the net and going to the net. … Certainly, we're looking to get pucks to the net to try to create that next play opportunity. It would've been nice if we could've gotten to a few more of those." Mike Sullivan
Penguins @ Toronto Maple Leafs 1-2 OT - Saturday, December 17, 2016
Jake Gardiner scored two minutes into overtime and Frederik Andersen made 33 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Air Canada Centre. The win ended a three-game losing streak for Toronto (12-11-7). It was the third consecutive game the Maple Leafs went beyond regulation. Marc-Andre Fleury made 47 saves for the Penguins (20-7-5), who extended their point streak to nine games (7-0-2). Pittsburgh had a chance to take an early lead when Carl Hagelin was awarded a penalty shot 1:27 into the game after being tripped on a breakaway by Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick, but Andersen made the save. But Evgeni Malkin scored a power-play goal at 12:51 of the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. It was Malkin's 13th of the season. Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev responded for the Maple Leafs at 13:05 with his first NHL goal to make it 1-1. The Maple Leafs controlled play for much of the second period, but Fleury made 20 saves to keep the game tied. It was fourth time this week Toronto had 20 or more shots in a period. Fleury had to leave the game at 1:59 of the first period after being hit with a skate by Maple Leafs forward James Van Riemsdyk near the neck, but he returned at 11:14. He received five stitches to close a cut on his throat. Goalie Matt Murray made six saves in 9:15.
* After scoring what he thought would be his first NHL goal, Zaitsev had to wait a little longer before celebrating. The Penguins challenged the play, claiming goaltender inference from van Riemsdyk, who was stationed at the top of the crease, but the review upheld the goal. "It's unbelievable. I'm so happy," Zaitsev said. "I was waiting for that goal. If you watch the games, I got lots of chances every game, I think I got to have five goals already."
* Andersen stopped Penguins forward Phil Kessel on a breakaway with a left pad save 11 minutes into the third period to keep the score 1-1. Kessel's stick broke while he attempt to shoot.
* With a chance for the Maple Leafs to take a 2-1 lead, van Riemsdyk took a pass at the side of the net from forward Tyler Bozak but mishandled it and could not put it into an empty net before help arrived for the Penguins.
* Penguins coach Mike Sullivan announced on Saturday that defenseman Trevor Daley is week-to-week because of an upper-body injury that occurred during a 1-0 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. ... The Maple Leafs have been held to two or fewer goals in seven of their past eight games.
"Obviously we would love to have won it for him. He did a great job for us. It comes down to probably taking a few too many penalties ourselves to put ourselves in a bit of a hole trying to play catch up, but I think that being said, he did a great job. Obviously, it would have been great to get him the win."
"That's a huge opportunity, a two minute 5-on-3 at that point in the game. With all the kills that we had to get to get to that point, our power play's got to come up big for us there." Sidney Crosby said.
"I got lucky. You know, talking to the doctors it was close to the jugular. It was bad luck, but I was happy that it wasn't too bad though." Fleury said.
"I don't try and tell them it's just another win. We showed a lot today about how detailed they were and how good they were, and that's what we're trying to do. So I think you should follow that up by feeling good about it." Former Whitley Warrior Mike Babcock
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