Bruins Cash In While Penguins Clang Iron in Pittsburgh
Boston won 6-2 in Pittsburgh, but this was not the beatdown the scoreboard suggests. For most of the night the two teams traded chances almost evenly, and Pittsburgh actually threw more pucks toward the net.
By expected goals, which measure how much each team's chances were worth, Boston came out at 2.53 and Pittsburgh at 2.47. That is roughly a two-and-a-half-goal game for both sides. The Penguins also had more shot attempts, though Boston put more on target, outshooting them 24-18.
So where did the margin come from? Two places. First, the goaltending. Arturs Silovs allowed six goals on 24 shots, while Michael DiPietro stopped 16 of 18 at the other end. Second, the iron. Ben Kindel, Egor Chinakhov and Kaedan Korczak each rang one off the frame, with two posts and a crossbar in all. A couple of those go in and this is a different game.
Pavel Zacha scored twice for Boston on just two shots. Boston earned the win, but the bounces made the margin.
