The Boston Bruins earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday, just one night after being dealt a three-goal defeat.
Bruins goaltender Dan Vladar stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced en route to securing his first NHL win in his first career start.
Trent Frederic scored a third-period goal to snap Boston’s two-game losing skid. David Pastrnak scored a power-play goal in the first period.
Pittsburgh netminder Brandon Tanev scored the lone goal for the Penguins while goaltender Casey DeSmith made 31 saves on 33 shots.
Boston held a lead in shots through the first two periods, but Pittsburgh held a slight edge (35-33) in the category. The Bruins were 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off all four Penguins penalties.
The Bruins improved to 15-8-4 on the season while the Penguins fell to 18-10-1.
Here’s how it all went down:
DEADLOCKED
The Bruins scored the game’s opening goal, but Pittsburgh responded with the tying tally late in the period as both teams went to the dressing room tied at 1-1.
Pastrnak scored a power-play goal at 3:20 off a nifty feed from Brad Marchand to give the Bruins a 1-0 at the end of the man-advantage.
Boston killed two Pittsburgh penalties in the opening frame, as well.
Vladar made 14 first-period saves on 15 shots, including one impressive stick save on a point-blank chance from Colton Sceviour.
The lone goal allowed came on a rebound as Tanev deposited his shot after Vladar got the pad on the initial stop. Boston was unable to clear the zone earlier in the possession.
Boston and Pittsburgh each came away with 15 shots while the Bruins held a 17-14 edge in hits and 16-12 advantage on the face-off.
REMAINING TIED
The Bruins had a great chance to regain the lead as Tanev was whistled for boarding Jared Tinordi. It resulted in a five-minute major, and Tinordi needed assistance from the Bruins medical staff on his way to the dressing room.
The defenseman was announced to have an upper-body injury and would not return. Boston didn’t capitalize on the power play either.
Boston lead in shots (28-24) and face-offs (26-18) at the end of two periods. Pittsburgh laid 14 hits during the period, having a slight 28-27 edge in the category.
The Bruins had two more man-advantage chances in the middle period. The Penguins were called for too many men at 1:36 and Marcus Peterson was whistled for holding Trent Frederic at 8:13.
The Bruins were 1-for-3 with three shots on goal prior to Tanev’s five-minute major.
Vladar stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced after 40 minutes. He had a nice pad save with 20 ticks left in the period after Pittsburgh’s Mark Jankowski couldn’t convert a breakaway chance during an earlier penalty kill.
FREDERIC WITH THE HEROICS
Frederic gave the Bruins some much-needed momentum with his third-period goal seven minutes into the final frame. It was assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Jakub Zboril.
Boston went back on the penalty kill just 39 ticks into the period as Brad Marchand was called for a high stick. The Penguins did not score.
The Bruins had a pair of empty-net opportunities late in the period but couldn’t cash before the final horn.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres in a pair of contests, the first of which is set for Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.
