Bruins Takeaways: Perplexed by Pittsburgh 

BOSTON- The Bruins were unable to seal the deal this Black Friday. 

Pittsburgh forward Philip Tomasino scored the game-winning goal in the third period, as the Boston fell to the Penguins, 2-1, at TD Garden. 

With the loss, the Bruins fell to 11-11-3, while Pittsburgh improved to 9-12-4. 

“I think there were a couple of areas where we weren’t at our best tonight,” said Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco. “Our execution was bit off at times, and we had a couple of missed assignments. They’re a good offensive team. They certainly still have some high-end talent back there and will make you pay if you miss assignments.”  

Boston’s  lone goal came off the stick of Charlie Coyle in the opening minutes of the contest. 

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman deserved a better fate. 

The Bruins netminder made 33 saves, keeping the Penguins top snipers guessing through nearly 40 minutes of action. Pittsburgh netted the equalizer with .8 seconds remaining in the second period, sparking the comeback

Coyle provided the early offense for Boston. 

The Bruins center scored the go-ahead goal off a costly neutral zone turnover by Jack St. Ivany. Tyler Johnson pounced on the puck in full flight, setting up Coyle with a cross-ice feed at 1:24 of the first period. It was Boston’s second shot of the game.  

It was Coyle’s fifth goal of the season, and first in five games. 

Pittsburgh outshot Boston 12-9 in the first period. 

Boston had several glittering opportunities to score during a second period power play, but were thwarted by Pens goalie Tristan Jarry (32 saves).

Check out: Bruins Coach Joe Sacco Gets Defensive

“We got caught up in a little bit of a game that we probably shouldn’t have, playing not to our strength,” said Sacco. “We’re at our best when we’re checking tight in the neutral zone, stiff in our own end. We’ve got to get back to that. It slipped a little bit for us here tonight in that part of our game.” 

The Bruins power play remained powerless going 0-for-3 with the man advantage.  

Meanwhile, the penalty kill went a perfect 2-for-2. 

The Bruins pulled Swayman for the extra attacker with roughly 1:49 remaining on the clock.  They buzzed around Jarry, but he was up to the task stoning Pavel Zacha from point blank range in the closing seconds.

“I think it’s a situation right now where the pucks not finding its way into the net,” said Sacco. “We had our chances tonight again. You have to execute at a higher level to finish off your plays. I’m not sure we got that done here tonight. We still had our opportunities, had a few power plays we’d like to cash in on, but overall it was just a game where I didn’t think we were at our best.”  

Grizzled Return For Grzelcyk 

Former Bruin Matt Grzelcyk was honored with a special video tribute during the first period.  

The Charlestown native played 445 games for the Bruins from 2016-17 to 2023-24, scoring 25 goals and 135 points. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound defenseman left town over the summer, signing a one-year $2.75 million deal with the Penguins. 

Grzelcyk, 30, was paired on defense with alternate captain Kris Letang, Grzelcyk. 

His father, John, is a longtime member of the Boston Garden bull gang.  

Bruins Lines

Brad Marchand – Elias Lindholm – Justin Brazeau

Morgan Geekie – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Tyler Johnson

Johnny Beecher – Mark Kastelic – Cole Koepke

Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy

Parker Wotherspoon – Brandon Carlo

Nikita Zadorov – Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman, Joonas Korpisalo

What’s next? 

The Bruins cap its Centennial celebration with a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Sunday, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m.

FOLLOW CHRISTOPHER HURLEY ON 𝕏: @HURLEY_BURLY

FOLLOW BOSTON HOCKEY NOW ON 𝕏 AND FACEBOOK