BOSTON — The Penguins won in Boston.
No, that wasn’t a late April Fools’ joke.
The Penguins arrived in town with a 10-game losing streak in Boston. They last won here on Nov. 24, 2014, before Mike Sullivan had joined the organization.
But Thursday, they snapped that frustrating skid with a 4-1 win over the Bruins. Three guys with local ties helped Sullivan, the Boston native, finally do it.
Zach Aston-Reese and Mike Matheson, who went to college in Beantown, scored and New Hampshire native Casey DeSmith stayed hot to earn another win.
The convincing, cathartic victory extended Pittsburgh’s winning streak to five.
At Thursday’s morning skate, Sullivan tried to downplay his teams’ inability to break through at TD Garden, where six rows of banners dangle from the rafters. But it had clearly been a source of frustration for the coach these past six years.
“Tonight’s a new experience. It’s a new opportunity for us, regardless of what the history looks like,” he said then, adding, “We need to bring our best game.”
The Penguins did that, or came pretty dang close to it, right from the get-go.
The first period was tight. The Bruins got just two shots through to DeSmith. Then the Penguins took over in the second. On the first shift, Jake Guentzel cut in from the right wing but Dan Vladar turned that aside. The Boston goalie then stopped Jared McCann on a breakaway, too, about one minute into the period.
Aston-Reese, who starred at nearby Northeastern University, finally got one past Vladar a minute later. Brandon Tanev sped down the right wing and centered the puck to Aston-Reese, who nudged it across the goal line for his eighth goal of the season. That tied the winger’s career high with 19 games left to play.
Tanev returned to action Thursday after missing the previous six games due to an injury. With Tanev and Zucker available, the Penguins could ice a more balanced lineup in Boston. Sullivan had Jason Zucker back on his second line. Tanev teamed with Frederick Gaudreau and Aston-Reese to form an effective trio.
Later in the second period, Matheson picked up the puck inside his blue line and went coast to coast to make 2-1. He blew past Bruins defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, cut across the crease and tucked the puck inside the left post. While falling onto his backside, the Boston College product raised his stick to celebrate.
Matheson, an offseason acquisition, has been excellent lately. In addition to that spectacular goal, the defenseman has three assists and a plus-4 rating.
Brad Marchand pinged a shot off the post and in with 8:46 left to spoil DeSmith’s bid for a third shutout in five starts. But less than two minutes later, Zucker buried a lovely feed from linemate Evan Rodrigues to restore their two-goal lead.
With Tristan Jarry sidelined, DeSmith got the start. The goalie, who grew up about 80 miles north of here in Rochester, N.H., made 15 of his 30 saves in the third period. He has now given up just seven total goals in his last seven starts.
Vladar was in the home crease Thursday, with star Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask out with an injury. The rookie stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Bruins beat the Penguins, 2-1, at PPG Paints Arena on March 16. That was Vladar’s first NHL start.
His third start was not as good. He gave up three goals on 22 shots Thursday.
Guentzel added a late empty-net goal, his team-leading 15th tally of 2021.
The Penguins are scheduled to practice in the Boston area on Friday. They will then wrap up their two-game set against the Bruins here Saturday afternoon.