Recap: Bruins come up empty, lose 4-0 in Pittsburgh

Paced by a hat trick from Jake Guentzel, the Penguins skated to a 4-0 win over the Bruins in Pittsburgh.

The hat trick was the fifth of Guentzel’s career, and also helped him reach the 40-goal plateau for the second time in his career.

To the highlights!

A bad line change + some slick passing + a smooth finish = the first goal of the game for the Penguins, who took a 1-0 lead midway through the first courtesy of Guentzel.

After the Bruins had a decent stretch of play where they put something like ten consecutive shots on DeSmith, another nice passing play sends Jason Zucker behind the defense and he beats Jeremy Swayman to make it 2-0 Penguins.

A fly ball isn’t dealt with, and the Penguins are able to not only collect the puck, but make a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Guentzel, and...yeah. 3-0 Penguins.

Guentzel would add an empty-netter for the hat trick, making the final 4-0 Penguins.

Game notes

• There are shutouts where you pepper the opposing net with grade-A chances but the goalie stands on his head, then there are shutouts where you throw a lot of rubber on net but rarely threaten; this was the latter.
• It won’t matter to DeSmith, who, per the NESN broadcast, recorded the most saves in a shutout against the Bruins in franchise history. Hey, if you’re going to get shutout, you might as well do so in historic fashion!
• The Zucker goal was a killer for the Bruins - despite being down 1-0, they had generated a bit of momentum with a good start to the second period. Then...that. It was quite a touch pass and a pretty goal for the Pens, but that can’t happen in that situation.
• Guentzel’s second goal was an ugly one for the Bruins. Failure to clear the puck is one thing, but allowing a cross-slot pass to a guy who had time dust of the puck, make a sandwich, and still beat Swayman, who was slow side-to-side, turned that play into a mess.
• With the loss, #StandingsWatch continues - the Bruins are stuck on 99 points, two points ahead of Washington for WC1. Pittsburgh moved two points clear of the Caps into third in the Metro. It’ll be a roller coaster.
• I’m sure it’ll come up in the comments, but Brandon Carlo had a tough night. He certainly wasn’t alone in that regard, but the third goal in particular will certainly not be on the Carlo Highlight Reel.
• It’s always a loser’s game to make excuses, but I can’t help but wonder if this Bruins team is running out of gas - through a combination of injuries and the relentless schedule, it’s been a tough 5-5-0 stretch in the last ten.

No rest for the weary! Right back at it on Saturday afternoon against the Rangers, then again the following day against the Canadiens in Montreal.

Maybe start resting some of the big guns in that Montreal game...