No Crosby, no problem as Penguins win

Associated Press

BOSTON

Even without NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins have returned to their winning ways.

Five days after giving up four goals in the final 3:23 to hand a victory to Boston, the Penguins recovered from blowing another two-goal lead to beat Boston 3-2 and win without Crosby for the second consecutive game.

“I definitely like the fact that we refocused” after falling behind 2-0, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “It was 15 (or) 20 seconds of hockey that got them back in the game. We had some scrambles in front, but held on to get the win. It was a big two points for us.”

Jordan Staal scored with 16:35 left in the third period, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 44 shots for his 20th win of the season. Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis also scored for the Penguins, who lost their first three games after Crosby was injured but have now beaten two of those teams — Montreal and Boston — in rematches.

“They put that in the back of their minds before the game,” Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. “I know I would.”

Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for the Bruins, and Dennis Seidenberg and Michael Ryder scored 13 seconds apart in the second period to erase a 2-0 deficit.

But Staal backhanded a loose puck in front past Rask to make it 3-2.

“It’s one of those games you want to step up and win the game for your team because they played so well,” Rask said. “It’s a tough loss to swallow, at least for me. I think nobody’s happy here right now.”

Crosby was sidelined after taking hits to the head in back-to-back games on Jan. 1 against Washington in the Winter Classic and Jan. 5 against Tampa Bay. Bylsma said Friday that Crosby was progressing.