Matt Murray, Sidney Crosby power Penguins to win

PITTSBURGH -- Matt Murray made 44 saves and Sidney Crosby had three points to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Boston Bruins 5-1 at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.
Murray is 17-4-1 this season. He has allowed one goal in each of his past three starts since surrendering seven on 28 shots in an 8-7 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 16.
"I'm a little bit happier with these last couple games," Murray said. "You're never really where you want to be. You're always looking to improve and you're always looking to move forward, and get better."

WATCH: All Bruins vs. Penguins highlights
Pittsburgh (30-11-5) extended its winning streak to four games and Boston (23-21-6) lost its fourth straight (0-3-1). Conor Sheary scored twice and Bryan Rust also had three points for the Penguins.
After a scoreless first period, the Penguins took 18 seconds to take a 1-0 lead in the second.
Crosby led a 2-on-1 with Rust before passing under Zdeno Chara's stick. Rust one-timed a wrist shot past goalie Tuukka Rask's glove for his 12th goal.
Crosby assisted on another goal when Sheary made it 2-0 with his first goal at 9:06 in the second. Sheary has four goals in his past two games and six in his past four.

Rask, who made 20 saves,
left the game because of an illness during a stoppage with 8:12 remaining in the second period
. Rookie goalie Zane McIntyre replaced Rask and allowed three goals on 14 shots.
Bruins coach Claude Julien did not provide an update following the game. Rask said he experienced migraines, but could have returned if Pittsburgh hadn't scored three quick goals to take a 5-1 lead early in the third period.
"I started seeing lights a little bit and then it just got back really quickly," Rask said. "It lasted about a half an hour. I got my vision back like when a couple minutes were played in the third period, but it was 3-1, 4-1 quickly.
"It's tough because you can't control the loss of like tightness in your neck area or something. That's what causes it, or something. But it hits you so quickly that you can't prepare for it, but at least I can see now."
David Krejci cut Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1 on a slap shot with 6:11 remaining in the second.

Patric Hornqvist pushed it to 3-1 when he backhanded a shot past McIntyre 1:40 into the third period and Sheary made it 4-1 with his 17th goal at 2:59.
Crosby extended it to 5-1 on a power play with his NHL-leading 28th goal at 4:37.

Goal of the game

After Rust tipped a shot on Rask, Crosby whiffed on an attempted shot, which caused Rask to dive out of his crease. The puck bounced off the end boards to Sheary to the right, where he shot into an open net midway through the second period.

Save of the game

Brad Marchand had a chance to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 5-2 late in the third period when he backhanded a shot toward a seemingly open right side of the net. Murray extended to make a glove save with 1:58 remaining.

Highlight of the game

David Backes could have tied it 2-2 when he went on a breakaway late in the second period. He went forehand-to-backhand, but Murray used a blocker save to deny him with 4:49 left in the second.

Unsung performance of the game

Forward Eric Fehr, who replaced Matt Cullen (foot) as Pittsburgh's fourth-line center, had a quietly affective game with six hits.

They said it

"I'm not going to sit here and suggest to you that I thought he'd have 17 goals halfway through the season, but I knew he could play in this League and I felt strongly that he could be a solid player." Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, on Conor Sheary
"There are a lot of guys, right now, that aren't giving us enough. This is a team that needs all 20 guys going in order to win. We don't have enough talent to think we can get away with a mediocre game." -- Bruins coach Claude Julien
"You can't just be saying the right things, or trying to say the right things, every time and not doing anything about it. It's about doing more than saying." -- Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron on getting back on track

Need to know

Rask had never left a game early against the Penguins. He last lost to Pittsburgh in regulation on Oct. 30, 2013, when the Penguins won 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena. … Forward Scott Wilson played despite leaving Pittsburgh's game against the Carolina Hurricanes early with an undisclosed injury Friday. … Because of ice issues, the Penguins and Bruins took an early intermission with 6:26 remaining in the first period. They finished the first before taking a one-minute break, switching ends and playing the second period.

What's next

Bruins: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Penguins: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, ROOT, NHL.TV)