Penguins Edge out Bruins, Win 3-2 in Pittsburgh
In the world of NBC Sports, rivalry night falls on a Wednesday and the contest between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins earned the title for game of the week. With a storied history from last season alone, Bruins sweeping the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final, the Penguins scooping up Jarome Iginla at the trade deadline among the biggest headlines; the game should have been a high ranking audience. Perhaps it was in Pittsburgh and other parts of the country, but in Boston all eyes were on a different sport, baseball. The Red Sox with a chance to clinch the World Series at home for the first time in over 95 years stole the spotlight from the black and gold and rightfully so. But viewership from Boston or not, rivalry night faced off in good fashion.
With a scoreless first period in the books, Pittsburgh opened the scoring at 6:54 of the second period, PPG – Chris Kunitz (6) Backhand shot – ASST: Kris Letang (1), Sidney Crosby (13). But the goal from Kunitz would be the lone one of the game, the real show of rivalry faced off in the third.
1:05 into the period, the Bruins evened the score, with thanks to, Patrice Bergeron (3) Tip-in – ASST: Dennis Seidenberg (4), Brad Marchand (3). A fiery game underway, the Penguins went back on top at the 11 minute mark with an outstanding goal from Brandon Sutter (1) Wrist shot – ASST: Pascal Dupuis (8), Brooks Orpik (5). At 17:58, Jussi Jokinen (6) with an unassisted Snap shot gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead. But the Bruins weren’t ready to hibernate and fought to the very end, tallying one more goal from former Penguin Jarome Iginla (3) Slapshot – ASST: Milan Lucic (6), Patrice Bergeron (3) at 18:17.
Despite a valiant effort the Bruins fell 3-2 in Pittsburgh, but their loss may have been overlooked by Bostonians’ as the Red Sox won the World Series title around 11 p.m. The opportunity to shine comes tonight on ‘All Hallows Eve’ when the Anaheim Ducks skate into the TD Garden for a 7 p.m. start. Fans attending the game will see ten Bruins post-game receive a clean shave courtesy of Gillette as they prepare for the start of Movember tomorrow. The Penguins will host the Blue Jackets at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh tomorrow night.
