Penguins rally from down three goals in first to defeat Bruins

PITTSBURGH -- Bryan Rust scored the winning goal in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from down three for a 4-3 victory against the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Evgeni Malkin stripped Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy of the puck behind the net before backhanding a pass to Rust, who one-timed it to put the Penguins ahead 4-3 with 7:25 remaining.
"We've climbed out of holes before," Rust said. "I think everybody in the room knew what it took. We just had to elevate our game a little bit."
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Penguins highlights]
Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to four games with two assists, and Matt Murray made 34 saves for the Penguins (31-13-5), who are 6-1-0 in their past seven games.
Crosby has eight points (three goals, five assists) in four games since returning from core muscle surgery. He missed the previous 28 games.
"We just stuck with it," Crosby said. "We continued to fight through things and score consistently throughout the game. … We found a way."
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist for Boston (28-10-12), which has lost three of its past four games (1-2-1). The Bruins had a three-goal lead in two of the three losses, including when they led the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 before losing 6-5 in the shootout Jan. 13.

Boston lost in regulation when leading by at least three goals for the second time in their past 208 regular-season games. It was 200-1-6 since 2010-11, losing in regulation 5-3 to the New York Rangers on April 4, 2011.
"We all have to take responsibility and be accountable for how we're able to play in this locker room," Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said. "I've said that many, many times. I think it's one of those games where we're playing a good team, they're going to give you a push, but then you can't let that go by. It's a 3-0 lead and there's a lot of game left, so you have to play the right way and keep pushing to keep increasing that lead."
After the Bruins scored on two of their first three shots and Pastrnak made it 3-0 with his NHL-leading 37th goal, Dominik Simon cut it to 3-1 at 16:34 of the first on a sharp-angled shot, set up by a pass from behind the net from Crosby.
Teddy Blueger made it 3-2 on another goal set up by Crosby 33 seconds into the second period. Crosby sent a backhand pass between his legs to Blueger in the slot for a wrist shot.
Jack Johnson tied it 3-3 when he scored shorthanded with a slap shot at 1:41 of the third period.

Bergeron scored 11 seconds into the game to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead, and Anders Bjork made it 2-0 at 2:02 with a wrist shot from the slot.
Pastrnak carried the puck around Pittsburgh's net before turning and shooting off Johnson's to extend the lead to 3-0 at 15:07.
Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves for Boston.
"Not so much on the goalie. They were good goals," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Got beat off the wall on the first one. Last one, I can't tell you what happened to be honest. It's a ripped puck that the goalie needs to get out and stop. D needs to communicate."

They said it

"Keep our foot on the gas. I think it's important, especially when you get off to a hot start like that. With this group, we can score goals like right away, a couple goals right away, because of how much skill is in the room."-- Bruins forward Anders Bjork
"At this point, we're just trying to win the game that's in front of us."-- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Need to know

Penguins forward Dominik Kahun left the game at 1:32 of the second period before Simon exited at 4:03 of the third. Sullivan said each was being evaluated after the game, Kahun for an upper-body injury and Simon for a lower-body injury. … Boston center David Krejci was sidelined for the second straight game with an upper-body injury. He could return Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights if he is able to practice Monday, Cassidy said. … Bergeron's goal 11 seconds into the game was three seconds shy of the fastest goal to start a regular-season game by a Bruins player. Brad Marchand scored eight seconds into a 6-5 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 14, 2016. … Pittsburgh won after trailing by three goals for the third time this season. It defeated the Islanders 4-3 in overtime after trailing 3-0 on Nov. 7 and the Vancouver Canucks 8-6 after falling behind 6-3 on Nov. 27. It is the second time the Penguins have had three three-goal comeback wins in a single season (2008-09).

What's next

Bruins:Host the Golden Knights on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN, TVAS, NESN, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Penguins:At the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)