Penguins use overtime to win seventh straight

PITTSBURGH-- Bryan Rust scored 1:24 into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins their seventh straight win, 4-3 against the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday.
Rust shot into the upper-left corner of the net behind goalie Tuukka Rask for the game-winner. It was Rust's second goal in as many games and fifth in five games.
"It's the same routine I've always had. It's just finally starting to work for me," Rust said. "The ice wasn't great in overtime, obviously, after playing a whole game. So I was just trying to kind of catch Rask off guard and I was lucky enough to do that."

After Conor Sheary gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal 9:02 into the third period, David Pastrnak tied it 3-3 on his Bruins-leading 19th goal with 6:40 remaining. Pastrnak trails Sidney Crosby by two goals for the NHL lead.
WATCH: All Bruins vs. Penguins highlights
The Penguins (20-7-3) have scored 39 goals during their winning streak.
"We certainly found a way to win," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "It wasn't the cleanest game in the world from our standpoint. We've been better as of late, but I think, once again, I give Boston a lot of credit. They're a hard team to play against. They compete hard."
The Bruins (16-12-3) have lost four of their past five (1-2-2) after winning their previous three.
"We played a good game," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "This was a hard-fought game, so no complaint. I thought we did a good job of staying in there. Even when we fell behind 3-2, we clawed our way back in and found a way to get ourselves a really valuable point."
Brad Marchand gave Boston a 1-0 lead with 9:12 remaining in the first period. David Backes left the puck at the top of the circle, and Marchand shot through traffic and goalie Matt Murray's five-hole for his ninth goal this season and second in three games.

Justin Schultz tied it 1-1 2:01 later. Crosby got the puck against the far wall and sent a cross-ice pass to Schultz, who skated to the top of the circle before shooting into the upper-left corner with 7:11 left in the first. It was his fifth goal of the season; he had four last season.
David Krejci gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead 6:40 into the second period when he shot his rebound past Murray to end a five-game goal drought.
Nick Bonino scored his second goal in as many games, fifth of the season, on a power play to tie it 2-2 at 9:47 of the second.

Goal of the game

Rust outraced Ryan Spooner to a chipped pass from Evgeni Malkin at the bottom of the left circle. Rust reached the puck and backhanded a shot over Rask's blocker.

Save of the game

Trevor Daley put a slap shot off Rask's mask, which caused him to fall at the top of his crease. Scott Wilson got to the rebound and attempted a backhand shot, but Rask extended his stick to stop and freeze the puck at 3:07 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Pastrnak tied the game when he wrapped around the net with Murray out of position. Pastrnak's backhand went through Bonino's knees before it slid into the net.

Unsung performance of the game

The Bruins had a chance to take a 3-2 lead after Malkin was called for hooking Dominic Moore at 11:31 of the second period. Pittsburgh killed its fourth penalty to preserve the tie entering the third.

They said it

"I think it was a pretty evenly matched game. There were chances both ways. I obviously think we could've played better, but the ultimate result was a win." -- Penguins forward Conor Sheary
"I didn't think we gave up a whole lot. They did get a couple power-play goals, but 5-on-5, they had a couple shifts where they were buzzing around, but you have to expect that from a team with that much talent. Other than that, though, we did have a good game." -- Bruins forward Brad Marchand

Need to know

Defenseman Zdeno Chara played a Bruins-high 27:07 in his 1,300th NHL game. … Crosby extended his point streak to nine games with an assist on Schultz's goal but his goal streak ended at four games. … Schultz (goal, two assists) had his first three-point game since April 27, 2013, when he had four points (one goal, three assists) for the Edmonton Oilers against the Vancouver Canucks. ... Murray started a fourth consecutive game since backing up goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in three straight from Dec. 1-5.

What's next

Bruins:Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Penguins: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, SN, ROOT, NHL.TV)