NHL Game Recap: Jarry, Tomasino, And The Penguins Defeat The Bruins 2-1

Tristan Jarry and the Penguins held on strong against the Bruins on Friday, November 29th, at TD Garden, defeating them 2-1. The Penguins won back-to-back games for the third time this season, their first win in this two-game win streak was against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. It was an unfortunate loss for the Bruins after a great 6-3 victory against the New York Islanders on Wednesday that came after a shutout loss against the Canucks on Tuesday. Charlie Coyle scored the lone goal for Boston, and Rickard Rakell and Philip Tomasino scored for Pittsburgh. This had been Tomasino’s first goal of the season, as well as his first as a Penguin, which had been the game-winning goal that broke the 1-1 tie. The Penguins head home to Pittsburgh to host the Calgary Flames at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday, and the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup:

Rakell – Crosby – Rust

Bunting – Malkin – Tomasino

Beauvillier – Lizotte – O’Connor

Nieto – Acciari – Hayes

Grzelcyk – Letang

Pettersson – Karlsson

Shea – St. Ivany

Jarry

Nedeljkovic

Boston Bruins Lineup:

Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak

Marchand – Lindholm – Brazeau

Frederic – Coyle – Johnson

Beecher – Kastelic – Koepke

Lohrei – McAvoy

Wotherspoon – Carlo

Zadorov – Peeke

Swayman

Korpisalo

   Charlie Coyle opened the scoring early into the first period at 18:36 to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with his fifth goal of the season after a misplayed pass. Out of the corner, Anthony Beauvillier sent the puck down to Jack St. Ivany, who fanned it at Boston’s blue line, and the Bruins carried it out to Pittsburgh’s zone by Tyler Johnson. Johnson passed the puck to Trent Frederic before getting to the left circle, and Frederic found Coyle in the right circle with plenty of space.

   Late into the middle frame with just seconds remaining on the clock, Rickard Rakell tied the game to 1-1 with his ninth goal of the season. Right off the face-off, Erik Karlsson received the puck, then fired it and it bounced off the boards, Sidney Crosby picked up the loose puck behind the goal line, cycling behind the net, and then fed Rakell in front to beat the buzzer.

   Philip Tomasino broke the tie, scoring not only his first as a Penguin but as well as the game-winning goal at 12:34 of the final frame. His initial shot from just below the left circle didn’t make it in as it bounced out and he chased the puck along the wall, got ahold of it, and passed it to Evgeni Malkin, who ended up sending it back to Tomasino, and he fired it under Jeremy Swayman’s left pad in the low slot. Attempting to tie the game back up at 8:16 of the third – Charlie Coyle had been facing an open net on the left side from a tight angle, however, Kris Letang slid across the goal line, keeping the puck out. With 2:45 left in regulation, Erik Karlsson also had a crucial blocked shot which had been against Morgan Geekie. The Bruins pulled Swayman out for an extra skater at 1:56, but Tristan Jarry and the Penguins held on to collect two points.

Tristan Jarry on the win and letting in early goals: “Really good for our whole group, from top to bottom, just blocking shots, keeping pucks down low, holding on to pucks. I think we held momentum for most of the game. I think that’s what really helped us down the stretch, and it really helped us at the end of the game too. – Like I said before, it is tough letting those early goals in, and I think it is hard for the group coming back from wherever you’re down at any point of the game. So, I think it’s especially hard when it’s in the first five minutes, but I think we did a great job tonight just responding. I thought we carried momentum a lot of the night, and just getting that goal at the end of the period really helped and gave our group a big boost. I think we’re able to continue on from that momentum.”

Philip Tomasino on how he’s feeling, his goal, and Evgeni Malkin to have the stand-alone assist on his goal: “It feels awesome. I thought everyone today was really getting a lot of pucks back, that was something we’ve kind of emphasized on the last two games here… I thought tonight our whole group did a heck of a job. On that goal, I thought all three of us worked together and got the puck back and it ended up going in. So, it was a great goal for our team, obviously a pretty big one, but a pretty big one for myself as well,” – “Oh my gosh, I mean, I think I’ve said it 10 times that I’ve looked up to this guy my whole life, so it’s awesome. I feel like he sees plays even before you do. He’s just awesome. He’s probably one of the most skilled guys ever, but definitely one of the most skilled guys I’ve ever played with… he made a heck of a play and it was nice to finally get one here.”

Charlie Coyle on the loss and the game overall: “I thought our first period was pretty decent, and then, you know, you jump out to an early lead, it’s what you do after that… and I don’t think anyone can say we liked how we played after that. It was like we kind of changed up our game and stopped doing the things that add up and give us opportunities in their end. We kind of strayed away from it. They had their little pushes, and it shouldn’t happen that way.”

Jeremy Swayman on paying attention to details, results, and improving: “It’s the details, it’s the process that we’re sticking to, and you know, we’re getting rewarded for it in a lot of ways. I know that we’re not getting the results as of right now in every single game, but that’s going to compound, and we’re going to start getting the results game after game. We trust that process, every one of us individually, and as a collective group. We know that’s going to pay off in the long run.”

Notes:

– Philip Tomasino scored his first goal this season to give the Penguins the lead after being traded to Pittsburgh by the Nashville Predators on Monday for a fourth-round draft pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. He played 18:05 in the Penguins 5-4 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.

– Tristan Jarry made a total of 31 saves for Pittsburgh.

– Matt Grzelyck played against his former team, the Bruins, for the first time after he signed in Pittsburgh on the first of July… He had spent parts of eight seasons with Boston after they selected him in the third round (No. 85) of the 2012 NHL Draft.

– Sidney Crosby recorded his 1,020th career assist, only needing three more to tie Gordie Howe for fifth with one franchise in NHL history.

– Jeremy Swayman made a total of 34 saves for Boston.