Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan wants his highly skilled team to find a comfort level in playing low-scoring, one-goal games as the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs approach — and that message has been received.
Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry on Sunday made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season, while Jake Guentzel scored in the Penguins’ 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins.
“It was a hard-fought game and there wasn’t a lot of space out there,” Sullivan said. “You had to fight for every inch on both sides, and from that standpoint, it had a playoff feel. We knew we were going to fight for every inch, and we wanted to force [Boston] to do the same.”
Photo: AFP
Jarry has won his past four decisions, including a sloppy 7-6 home victory over the New Jersey Devils last week, in which he allowed six third-period goals.
He rebounded two nights later against the Devils and has earned one point in 11 of his past 12 starts.
“It’s a short season and you play a lot of games,” Jarry said. “It’s a matter of being prepared for the next game.”
Photo: AP
Guentzel scored his 21st at 4 minutes, 3 seconds of the third period to help the Penguins win their fourth consecutive game.
Bryan Rust and Brian Dumoulin made plays at the blueline and along the wall to keep the puck in the zone and get it to Sidney Crosby near the goal-line.
Crosby set up Guentzel, who ripped a high slap shot past Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman’s glove from the left faceoff dot.
“That was a goal-scorer’s goal,” Sullivan said. “It was a great set up by [Crosby]. Jake has the ability to do that for us.”
Pittsburgh has 14 wins and points in 16 of their past 19 games. The Penguins have 12 wins and points in 13 of their past 16 home games against Boston, dating to March 11, 2012.
Swayman stopped 28 shots for the Bruins. They lost their second consecutive game, following a six-game win streak.
The Bruins have nine wins in their past 14 games.
Swayman has allowed more than two goals only once in his first seven NHL starts. In his past three appearances, Swayman has stopped 82 of 84 shots, including a shutout.
“Those are crucial points and it was a tight game all around,” Swayman said. “It’s what we’re going to expect in a couple weeks. It was a fun game to be part of, but just disappointed that we didn’t come out with the two points.”
Also on Sunday, it was:
‧ Rangers 6, Sabres 3
‧ Lightning 4, Blue Jackets 3
‧ Flyers 4, Devils 3
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