Penguins Ready for Tough Battle With Bruins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to their previous two meetings with the Boston Bruins as learning experiences.
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins have a few tough opponents on the horizon to close out the 2022-23 regular season, but none will be as difficult as their match with the Boston Bruins.
Looking to avoid the season sweep, the Penguins have faired pretty well against the Bruins in their previous two meetings, but let a third period lead slip away both times.
It goes without saying that kind of free fall can’t happen again, but it won’t come easy, everyone needs to be prepared for a heavy duel.
“We understand what’s at stake here,” Sidney Crosby said. “We’ve been playing big games for a while now.”
Like mentioned, the Penguins let a pair of third period leads get away from them against the Bruins this year, and with this being a possible first round playoff matchup, the Penguins will want to have a more positive outing.
Boston aside, letting leads slip has been a problem for the Penguins all season and it seems to be getting resolved with their last couple of wins.
“We just got to put a full game together,” Crosby said. “Putting a full game together will be really important. That’s what you need this time of year.”
The Bruins enter PPG Paints Arena already as the winners of the 2022-23 Presidents’ Trophy and the Penguins are clinging to a playoff spot.
Head coach Mike Sullivan believes the Penguins have what it takes to put down such a strong opponent, and they need to learn from the previous two meetings.
“I think we can take a lot from those games,” Sullivan said. “When you look at them and drill down into the details, they were pretty competitive games.
In the first meeting, the Penguins entered riding a four-game losing streak and got up to a 5-2 lead in the second period.
The likely Vezina Trophy winner in Linus Ullmark was pulled following the fifth goal, only for him to return and steal a victory following a Jeremy Swayman injury, but the Penguins showed they can beat their starting goalie.
“We know it’s going to be a big challenge against these guys,” Sullivan said. “I think those two experiences suggest that those games could have went either way.”
Sullivan stated that the Penguins need to find a way over the ‘hump’ to beat the Bruins, but he believes they can do it.
A seven game series might be a different story, but it’s once again extremely important that the Penguins steal a win from the best team in the NHL.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
- Subscribe to Inside the Penguins on YouTube
- Follow Inside the Penguins on Twitter: @InsidePenguins