Recap: Bruins close out first Penguins series with 4-1 win

Two goals from Patrice Bergeron and secondary scoring led the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the TD Garden tonight.

The Bruins opened the scoring at 6:10 in the first period with Chris Wagner’s first goal of the season. Pens defenseman Kevin Czuczman couldn’t clear the front of the net and sent the puck down the slot where Wagner sent a one-timer top-shelf over Tristan Jarry’s stick, to make the score, 1-0.

The Penguins bounced back at 15:03 in the first period. After receiving a bounce pass off the boards from Bryan Rust, Cody Ceci skated into the high slot where his wrist shot made it through traffic and over the stick of Jaroslav Halak, to make the score, 1-1.

Sean Kuraly regained the lead for the Bruins at 18:53 in the first period. Anders Bjork sent a wrist shot towards the net which bounced off Czuczman and was tipped by Kuraly low stick side on Jarry, to make the score, 2-1.

The second period started out with Pittsburgh controlling the momentum in the Bruins’ defensive zone. However, through the first eight minutes, shots were extremely low and only a mere 1-0 in favor of the Pens. But maybe it’s because I jotted that note down that Bergeron decided to take matters into his ow hands and make the Bs first shot of the period count.

The Bruins cushioned their lead on their first shot of the second period at 8:13. Matt Grzelcyk found Bergeron on top of the paint. Bergeron collected the puck after hitting Kris Letang’s skate for a backhanded shot in the slot that went low stick side on Jarry, to make the score, 3-1.

Sean Kuraly’s line stepped up through the first two periods. Besides the obvious contributions in the first period, the line had viable chances. Bjork had a nice chance in the high slot on the penalty kill to close out the period.

The third period got rolling with a power-play goal at 1:40 from none other than Patrice Bergeron. Charlie McAvoy found Brad Marchand inside the right face-off circle. Marchand then sent a pass to Bergeron where from the top of the same circle, one-timed a shot past Jarry, to make the score, 4-1.

Most of the final frame was pretty quiet. Halak looked good for the few shots that he faced. Bruce Cassidy also mixed up the lines for a bit, switching around Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith.

Aside from the obvious presence of Bergeron’s line and goals, the third line made an impact throughout the night. Bjork might have had only one shot, but he helped create chances tonight with his linemates. Wagner also got to the front of the net and used his body. They put the Bruins into the game in the first and continued to keep them in it.

Notes:

• Kuraly and Wagner scored their first goals of the season
• Grzelcyk left the game with a lower-body injury
• Smith led with 4 shots on goal
• Marchand extended his point streak to four games
• This was Bergeron’s second multi-goal night of the season