Bruins score three in second, hold off Penguins

BOSTON --Brad Marchand scored twice, and Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning goal to help the Boston Bruins rally from two goals behind in the second period and defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 at TD Garden on Thursday.
The line of Marchand, Bergeron (one goal, one assist) and David Pastrnak (two assists) combined for six points. Riley Nash scored, and Tuukka Rask made 19 saves for the Bruins (25-21-6), who won consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 29 and 31.

"In the first period we had no emotion whatsoever and they were taking it to us," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "So it was about regrouping after the first and realizing that if we came out and played with a little bit of an edge then we could push ourselves onto them."
WATCH: All Bruins vs. Penguins highlights
Justin Schultz, Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist scored, and Matt Murray made 33 saves for the Penguins (30-13-5), who were without forward Evgeni Malkin because of a lower-body injury.
Pittsburgh has lost its past two games after winning four in a row.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead at 7:37 of the first period. Schultz was credited with the goal when his pass in front was swept into the net by Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo.
Kessel's power-play goal at 11:26 made it 2-0.

Marchand's third shorthanded goal of the season brought the Bruins within 2-1 at 1:38 of the second period, and he tied it at 6:27 on a rebound of a Pastrnak shot.
Marchand earlier Thursday had a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, which fined him $10,000 for a dangerous trip against Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall on Tuesday.
"It's good to kind of just let it go and kind of put it behind me," Marchand said. "You can't change anything after it all goes down. So it's great to come out here and play the game, have some fun and be part of a big win. So it was a good night."
Nash's first goal in 10 games gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 10:25.
"They played hard," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "They played hard in the second period. They won puck battles and as a result they controlled territory. When you don't win enough puck battles it's hard to control territory and establish the game you want to play."
Bergeron scored on the power play 51 seconds into the third period for a 4-2 lead. Hornqvist made it 4-3 at 10:35.
It was the last game for each team prior to the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.

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Goal of the game

Pastrnak's shot rebounded to Bergeron, who flipped it into the top of the net.

Save of the game

Rask blocked Pittsburgh defenseman Trevor Daley's one-timer from between the circles during a third-period penalty kill.

Highlight of the game

Marchand's shorthanded goal from the left hash mark went through Murray's five-hole and started Boston's comeback.

Unsung performance of the game

Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller bailed out Rask during the second period. On the penalty kill, Chara blocked Conor Sheary's shot at 47 seconds with Rask out of the crease. Miller did the same to a Nick Bonino shot at 2:21.

They said it

"Yeah, I think he needed to respond that way. I think it was important for him to respond that way. I'm going to be honest with you, we're lucky that we didn't lose him tonight. Obviously he played a big part in our win and ... I respect the League and I respect their decisions sometimes, but he's been in trouble before and I'm sure that wasn't an easy decision. So I'm going to stand here and say we're lucky we had him tonight." -- Bruins coach Claude Julien on Brad Marchand
"For me, that was a freebie. We gave them that one. We need to have more awareness on the ice, knowing where people are on the rink. And it's hard to win games when you don't make it hard on your opponents to score goals, and I thought that one was a freebie." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on Brad Marchand's shorthanded goal

Need to know

Marchand reached 20 goals for the sixth time in his NHL career. He has 21 this season. ... The Penguins called up forward Carter Rowney from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Thursday but he was a healthy scratch. ... Carlo sustained a lower-body injury in the third period and did not return.

What's next

Penguins: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ROOT, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Bruins: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, SN1, TVA Sports, SUN, NESN, NHL.TV)