PITTSBURGH — Jared McCann scored twice, Matt Murray finished with 39 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins handed the Boston Bruins their first regulation loss since January with a 4-2 victory on Sunday night.
Nick Bjugstad and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Penguins, who survived another late push by the Bruins.
David Krejci picked up his 19th of the season and John Moore got Boston within one when he scored with just over a minute to go. But the Bruins couldn’t complete the comeback, ending their 19-game point streak.
It was the first regulation loss for Boston since Jan. 19 against the New York Rangers.
Jaroslav Halak made 33 stops, but Boston remained winless in Pittsburgh since December 2015.
Boston was coming off a 6-0 homestand that culminated with last-minute victories over Florida and Ottawa.
Bjugstad needed just 93 seconds to give the Penguins the lead, fighting for position at the far post and redirecting a centering pass from Zach Aston-Reese past Halak
McCann made it 2-0 at 13:54 when he took a lead pass from Teddy Blueger and broke in alone on Halak before deking from his forehand to his backhand. Halak could only stretch out his glove in vain as McCann slipped home a short-handed goal.
Krejci got Boston on the board early in the second when the puck emerged from a scrum in front of the Pittsburgh net and ended up on his stick in the left circle. He flipped it over a sprawled Murray for his 19th of the season.
Pittsburgh’s potent power play was a lifeless 0 for 4 until Sidney Crosby and Guentzel hooked up for Guentzel’s team-leading 34th of the season with 3:28 to go in the second. Crosby raced into the zone down the left side and sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Guentzel, who quickly went backhand to forehand and lifted it by Halak to restore the two-goal cushion.
CAPITALS 3, JETS 1: Carl Hagelin scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway out of the penalty box, backup goalie Pheonix Copley made 33 saves and Washington won at home for its seventh consecutive win.
Nicklas Backstrom also scored and Lars Eller added an empty-netter for the Capitals, who now lead the Metropolitan Division by four points.
PANTHERS 6, RED WINGS 1: Aleksander Barkov reached 30 goals for the first time in his career, helping Florida rout visiting Detroit.
Josh Brown and Dryden Hunt scored their first NHL goals, Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist, and Jamie McGinn and Frank Vatrano also scored.
NOTES
HALL OF FAME defenseman Harry Howell, who played the most games in New York Rangers’ history, died Saturday night at age 86.
A seven-time All-Star who won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman in 1966-67, he was living at an assisted care facility near Hamilton, Ontario.
Howell played 1,160 games for the Rangers from 1952-69. He also played for the Oakland/California Golden Seals and Los Angeles Kings before finishing in the World Hockey Association.
SUSPENSIONS: Sabres forward Jack Eichel and Flyers forward Jakub Voracek were suspended for two games without pay by the NHL after penalties on Saturday.
Eichel was suspended for an illegal check to the head of Colorado forward Carl Soderberg, and Voracek was suspended for interference against Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk.
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