PITTSBURGH – The reigning NHL MVP is out indefinitely with an upper body injury. The league’s top-scoring defenseman is out, too, apparently because of a lower body issue.
Still, it hardly matters for the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sidney Crosby scored his 13th goal, Joe Vitale added his first in more than a year, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 31 shots as the Penguins beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Sunday for their ninth straight win.
“It seems like it’s always different guys, so that’s what you need in order to have success consistently. We’ve been getting that lately,” Crosby said. “Our depth is a big part of our success. We need to continue to show that.”
The Penguins moved into the top spot in the Eastern Conference even without star center Evgeni Malkin – who missed his fifth consecutive game – and played the final two periods without defenseman Kris Letang, who didn’t return after the first intermission following a seemingly innocuous collision with Boston’s Brad Marchand.
The Bruins took advantage of Letang’s absence by spending most of the game’s final 40 minutes working in Pittsburgh’s end of the ice. Still, they had nothing to show for it thanks to the Penguins’ suddenly responsible defense.
Taken to task by coach Dan Bylsma for sloppy play after a comeback win over Philadelphia on March 7, Pittsburgh has responded by allowing just five goals in five games.
Tyler Seguin scored his 10th goal for Boston, and Tuukka Rask made 16 saves but couldn’t stop the Bruins from losing to Pittsburgh for the second time in less than a week.
SENATORS 4, JETS 1: In Ottawa, Jakob Silfverberg scored twice as Ottawa snapped Winnipeg’s three-game win streak. Guillaume Latendresse and Kyle Turris added goals for the Senators (15-8-6), who got 25 saves from Robin Lehner.
CAPITALS 5, SABRES 3: In Washington, Troy Brouwer had a goal and an assist in the second period for Washington, which broke out of an offensive slump in the Capitals scored only seven times in five games – losing four. Jason Chimera added his first regular-season goal in nearly a year for the Capitals.
OILERS 3, PREDATORS 2: In Edmonton, Alberta, Jordan Eberle had a goal and assist for Edmonton, which has won three of four.
Magnus Paajarvi and Lennart Petrell also scored for the Oilers (11-11-6).
Shea Weber and Roman Josi had goals for the Predators (11-12-6), who have lost the first three games of a four-game trip.
