Recap: Goals galore! Bruins crank up the scoring in 7-5 win over Penguins

The Boston Bruins’ five-goal second period boosted the team to a 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the TD Garden this afternoon.

The Bs top guys came out in full force for a wild scoring bonanza, which saw a hat trick from Brad Marchand, two goals from David Pastrnak and a tally apiece from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

“There were no freebies besides the empty netter,” Bruce Cassidy said. “There were high end plays by high-end players. They put themselves in position to recover pucks.”

The Penguins opened the scoring at 3:24 of the first period on their first shot of the game. Off the face-off, Mark Jankowski won the puck back to Mike Matheson where he threw it at net. Jankowski got his stick on the shot and deflected it over Jaroslav Halak. 1-0 Penguins.

The Penguins dominated the Bruins zone, getting six shots early on Halak through six minutes of play, controlling the flow of the period. They hit their breakout passes and were there to stop the Bruins’ attempts. The Penguins were stronger in the neutral zone while the Bruins had a hard time completing passes to gain offensive zone entry.

But things were about to take a wild turn, starting immediately in the second period.

The Bruins tied the game 11 seconds into the second period. Sidney Crosby tried to clear the puck, but Bergeron intercepted the attempt for a wrister past Casey DeSmith’s stick. 1-1.

The Bruins took the lead moments later, at 45 seconds of the second period. Pastrnak picked up the loose puck from Krejci’s shot. Pastrnak had a wide-open net as DeSmith couldn’t reset on the rebound. 2-1 Bruins.

The Penguins tied the game at 2:45 of the second period. Crosby backhanded a pass to Jake Guentzel for a quick shot that rings around the post over Halak’s glove. 2-2.

The Penguins regained the lead at 5:11 of the second period with a power-play goal. Off a rush the right boards, Guentzel backhanded a pass to Jared McCann crashing the net for one-timer over Halak’s stick. 3-2 Penguins.

The Bruins tied the game again at 14:56 of the second period. Matt Grzelcyk circled the net and found Marchand skating into the slot where he put a wrister top-shelf over DeSmith’s glove. 3-3.

The Bruins took the lead at 18:29 with a power-play goal. From the high slot, Marchand fired a pass to Krejci for a quick shot past DeSmith. 4-3 Bruins.

The Bruins added a two-goal cushion with Marchand’s second goal of the night at 19:40 of the second period. Charlie McAvoy found Marchand in the slot where he fired a wrist shot that rang around the posts and in. 5-3 Bruins.

WHAT A WILD PERIOD.

Cassidy credited the scoring as “work ethic goals” and “high-end talent taking over.”

The Penguins cut into their deficit at 4:38 of the third period. Jankowski found Cody Ceci inside the left face-off circle for a wrist shot over Halak’s stick. 5-4.

Pastrnak scored his second goal of the night to regain a two-goal lead for the Bruins at 13:28 of the third period. Nick Ritchie picked up a turnover at the blueline to generate a 2-on-1. Ritchie hit Pastrnak for a one-timer over DeSmith’s glove. 6-4 Bruins.

The Penguins netted a shorthanded goal to bring them within one at 18:45 of the third period. Guentzel backhanded a pass to Crosby along the right boards. At the top of the right face-off circle, he put a wrist shot through Halak’s five-hole. 6-5.

Marchand ended the night with a hat trick into the empty net at 18:59 of the third period, to make the final score 7-5.

The Bruins found scoring and responded when they needed to after last game’s poor showing. Although the Bruins lit up the score board, they did let in five goals and Cassidy says there will be a closer look to see the chemistry on the defensive end when reviewing the game.

The Bruins are back in action on Monday at 7 pm against the Philadelphia Flyers.