East's best Bruins pound Penguins 5-2

by FrankD on Dec 30, 2008 10:13 PM EST in Game Recaps

Leave it to the Penguins to give Boston their ninth straight win. And I mean that in the literal sense.

Truth be told Boston played like the league's best team tonight, even though they're two points behind the Sharks for the role of top dog. The Penguins? Not so much.

Phil Kessel's second period pass to Marc Savard looked like something Sykora and Malkin should be doing when they're not forcing the puck into clogged lanes. The sort of pass Crosby should've dished off to Sykora on the third period power play before it led to a 3-on-1 shorthanded goal for the Bruins.

Yes, 3...on...1. Shorthanded. Keep in mind the Bruins had everyone but the goalie in on that attack. Even the other skater on the ice was in front of two Penguins as a late trailer, mainly because he was playing down low by Tim Thomas. Words can't express how ugly that play was - if you even want to call it a play.

The Penguins gave the Bruins eight chances on the power play tonight. Any team would find it difficult to go up against eight power plays on any given night, but when you give a team like Boston eight chances you're just asking for embarrassment. By the time the torture ceased around 10:00pm, the Penguins held the Bruins to only two power play goals. Sad to say that's not bad, considering. Never mind the Penguins' PP was held scoreless on three attempts. They were too busy giving away goals.

The Pens take to the road Thursday night to complete the second half of this home-and-home series. Perhaps the challenge comes in trying to snap Boston's 13 straight wins on home ice. If tonight's game is evidence to anything, the biggest challenge will be trying to keep the Bruins' offense from scoring more than five goals.