Newsmakers in the NHL: Boston Keeps Winning, Penguins Keep Losing

The Boston Bruins won their ninth straight game on Tuesday night, picking up a 5-2 victory in Pittsburgh. Aside from winning nine in a row, the Bruins finish the month of December with a 12-1 record, while extending their lead in the Eastern Conference to nine points over the No. 2 team, the New York Rangers Washington Capitals.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice, the month of December can't end soon enough for the Penguins, as they went 5-9 for the month, including four consecutive losses on home ice. Even worse, Pittsburgh has posted a 2-7 record in its past nine games at Mellon Arena. That's not good. Look, I realize the Penguins have been slow starters the past two seasons before kicking it in gear in February and March, but can you keep relying on that? Might make it a little easier on yourself to actually win some games in October, November and December because, you know, those games count too.

As for this game, Boston received a stellar effort in net from Tim Thomas as he turned aside 32-of-34 shots, while Phil Kessel, Dennis Wideman, Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara and Martin St. Pierre provided the offense. The Bruins went 2-for-8 on the power play, and scored a shorthanded goal on a 3-on-1 break in the third period, pretty much taking Pittsburgh out of the game. I think that speaks volumes about the Penguins power play when they allowed a 3-on-1 rush with the man advantage.

Highlight of the night for Pittsburgh was Tim Wallace, a recent callup from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, who squared off against Milan Lucic and actually held his own for a while, before getting dropped by Lucic. The two teams meet again on Thursday, in Boston.

Blackhawks Winning Streak Snapped

In what was a preview of Thursday's Winter Classic, the Blackhawks traveled to Detroit on Tuesday night, where the Red Wings came away with a 4-0 win, ending Chicago's nine-game winning streak. Johan Franzen scored a pair of goals for the Wings, while Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Kopecky also tallied goals in the win.

Chicago actually came out strong, outshooting the Wings 14-3 early in the first period. Ty Conklin, however, was a wall in net for Detroit, turning aside all 36 shots he faced to pick up his third shutout of the season.


The Rest of the Action

... Despite Mike Smith's best efforts in goal, Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday with a 2-1 shootout loss to Montreal. Smith made 29 saves in goal for the Lightning, before giving up a pair of goals in the shootout to Alexie Kovalev and Maxim Lapierrie. Vaclav Prospal opened the scoring for Tampa Bay with a power play goal late in the first period, while Guillaume Latendresse tied the game for Montreal 46 seconds into the third period. Carey Price stopped 21-of-22 shots in the game, and all three shots he faced in the shootout to pick up the win.

... Nicklas Backstrom picked up a goal and an assist for the Capitals as they defeated Buffalo, 4-2, winning their fourth game in a row. Brooks Laich and Chris Bourque also scored for Washington, while Jose Theodore stopped 31 shots.

... Zach Parise scored twice for New Jersey, including the game-winner late in the third period, to help lead the Devils to a 4-3 win in St. Louis.

... Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph picked up win No. 450 in his NHL career, as the 41-year old veteran made 29 saves in a 4-3 overtime win against the Atlanta Thrashers. Atlanta actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, thanks to goals from Bryan Little and Jim Slater. Unfortunately for the Thrashers, Toronto fired 47 shots at Johan Hedberg, beating him on four of them. Pavel Kubina scored the game-winner just 33 seconds into overtime, picking up his eighth goal of the season.

... Philadelphia's Jeff Carter scored his league-leading 27th goal of the season in a 3-2 win against Vancouver. Scott Hartnell and Jonathon Kalinski also scored for the Flyers, who lost Simon Gagne to an upper body injury just 15 seconds into the game when he was hit from behind by Kevin Bieksa. During the game, the Canucks made a minor deal, acquiring goaltender Jason LaBarbera from Los Angeles for a seventh-round draft pick.

... Ottawa's Brian Lee picked a fine time to score his first career goal, as the 21-year old defenseman scored midway through the third period to break a 2-2 tie, helping lead the Senators to a 3-2 win in Edmonton. Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson also scored for Ottawa, while Ethan Moreau and Liam Reddox provided the offense for Edmonton.