Boston Bruins Gamenight: Bruins blow late lead, fall to Pens 3-2

Furious Penguins’ rally or stunning Bruins’ collapse?

Either is appropriate, depending on your point of view.

Entering the game with a chance to take over sole possession of both the Northeast division and Eastern Conference leads, the Bruins lost the game and the opportunity by yielding 3 final frame goals, the game winner by Brandon Sutter with just 2:03 left in regulation as Pittsburgh posted a dramatic 3-2 come from behind victory over Boston at the CONSOL Energy Arena on Tuesday night.

March 12, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) and right wing Beau Bennett (19) react after defeating the Boston Bruins after the game at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The goal was the second of the period for Sutter, who scored just three and a half minutes earlier as part of a three goal explosion in just over four minutes.

Boston entered the 3rd period with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of goals by both Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin.  Chara scored just 4:45 into the match on the power play, his drive from the point finding paydirt past Penguins’ goal keep Marc-Andre Fleury, while Seguin’s goal came from in front of the crease, his legs swept out from under him as his wristed the puck past Fleury on his way to the ice.

After an uneventful second period and over half of the third, the Bruins were seemingly on the verge of pasting a shutout on Pittsburgh, which would have been their first suffered at home in two years, but then the Penguins started finding their range against the exhasted Bruins.

Chris Kunitz got the Penguins within one with just over six minutes remaining in regulation with a blast from right circle, then Sutter tied in with a wicked drive from the left circle 51 seconds later.  The game winner came from almost the exact same spot and gave the Penguins the improbable and biggest win of the season.

Anton Khudobin started in net for the Bruins and was spectacular, stopping 31shots until the defense started to collapse around him.  Fleury had only to stop 14 of Boston’s meager total of 16 shots for the win.

The Penguins now take their act on the road to Toronto for a Thursday night faceoff with the Maple Leafs before returning home to host the Rangers on Saturday while the Bruins get to go home, hosting the Florida Panthers on Thursday and the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

The Bruins were tired, granted, but their trend of blowing late leads is disturbing – three of their last 4 have ended with blown leads, to Montreal, Washington and now Pittsburgh and all have been due to sloppiness on defense.

Perhaps with a little rest and bit of prodding from a frustrated coach Claude Julien, the Bruins will shore up the leaky D and move forward with confidence…right now all a lead does is give the fans a feeling of dread…