Bruins vs. Penguins Final Score: Boston Takes 3-0 Series Lead with Double OT Win

Coming into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference it was looking like the Pittsburgh Penguins weren’t going to find a way to turn things around against the Boston Bruins. The offense for Pittsburgh has been stale at best and it was all being shoveled onto netminder Tomas Vokoun. But the Pens stuck with Vokoun for Game 3 and the offense decided to show up and give him the support that had been lacking in the first few games.

The game will be noteworthy for being the longest overtime game for the Boston Bruins since 1990 and they can thank a guy who’s almost been around that long for ending it. Jamoir Jagr assisted on Patrice Bergeron’s game winner in overtime to get the Bruins a 3-0 series lead and push the Penguins to the brink of a Conference Finals sweep.

While the Penguins took the game into overtime — deep into overtime– against the Bruins and remained closer to Boston then they had been all season long, the offense didn’t totally show up and rather they were bailed out by a great night by Tomas Vokoun.

Any doubts that the Pens problems were directly related to their offense were answered definitively with the low output from the Pens shooters in Game 3. Tuukka Rask has effectively shutdown the Pittsburgh attack and the Pens are running out of time to right the ship and get their offensive mojo back before it’s too late.

This should help take pressure off of Vokoun who can no longer be blamed for the woes of late. He’s clearly doing all he can between the pipes for Pittsburgh and that was on full display in Game 3. It could be argued that Vokoun is the only thing working for the Pens in this series but that right there shows you how bad things have gotten.

As for the Bruins, they’ve been able to rough up the Pens and drag them down to their level of play. Sidney Crosby has been continuing to have a terrible series against the Bruins and that was something that kept going in Game 4. He managed just one shot on goal the entire game as he’s been effectively taken out of the action by the Bruins bruisers.

Tuukka Rask has got to be the best netminder in the playoffs right now and it’s incredibly hard to argue against that point. He went well over 80 minutes and allowed just a single shot to get past him out of 54 fired his way. He’s been the Bruins most deadly weapon and he’s single handedly sucked the life out of the Penguins once promising season.