Thornton scores twice as Bruins edge Penguins
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Joe Thornton scored twice and linemate Sergei Samsonov, returning to the Boston lineup after missing 18 games, added a third-period goal as the Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 Saturday night. The game matched the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The Northeast Division-leading Bruins are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games, while the loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Atlantic Division-leading Penguins.
The speedy Samsonov, who was out with a wrist injury, helped Thornton break a 1-1 tie late in the second period. Samsonov cut from the left wing into the high slot and threw a perfect pass back to Thornton at the bottom of the left circle for Thornton’s 13th goal at 13:38.
With the teams skating four-on-four early in the third, Brian Berard’s pass caromed off the right skate of Samsonov for his third goal of the season and a 3-1 lead at 2:02. Thornton also assisted, giving him 11 points in five games.
Jan Hrdina brought the Penguins within 3-2 when he deflected Alexei Kovalev’s shot past goalie John Grahame on the power play for his 11th goal at 4:52 of the third. But Grahame, who stopped 24 shots, held off the Penguins the rest of the way to push his career record against them to 5-0-1.
Thornton extended his scoring streak to five games with his 12th goal at 14:59 of the first period during a delayed penalty. Mike Knuble knocked down a Pittsburgh pass and fed the puck into the slot for P.J. Axelsson, who was stopped by goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin before Thornton put in the rebound.
Pittsburgh tied it 1-1 at 5:37 of the second when Andrew Ference beat Grahame from the top of the right circle on the power play. It was the first goal for the defenseman, who played his second game since returning from hernia surgery.
Ference manned the point on the power play in place of Dick Tarnstrom, who was scratched because of a foot injury sustained late in the Pens’ 4-1 win in Buffalo on Friday.
NOTES: Martin Straka (hamstring) also missed the game for the Penguins, while the Bruins scratched Martin Lapointe and Marty McInnis. … Boston is unbeaten in its last six games in Pittsburgh (4-0-2). … The game featured four of the league’s top six scorers in Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux and Kovalev, and Boston’s Thornton and Glen Murray. Murray and Lemieux, the NHL’s leading scorer, each had one assist.