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Rob Rossi is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and can be reached at 412-380-5635, via e-mail or on Twitter.
BOSTON -- Big Zdeno Chara of the once-bad Boston Bruins did not shake hands with Sidney Crosby after a ceremonial faceoff Tuesday night at TD Garden.
That was Chara and the Bruins' most defiant moment in an utterly unimpressive 3-0 loss to the Penguins, who rallied around controversial winger Matt Cooke for a bounce-back victory.
"I've been involved in games like this before," a stoic Cooke said after he fought Bruins winger Shawn Thornton only a minute and 58 seconds into a game he entered as a "wanted" man, according to one Boston newspaper.
Cooke is notorious to Boston fans for his hit on Bruins center Marc Savard at Mellon Arena on March 7. Cooke clipped Savard in the head, accidentally he said, but was neither penalized nor suspended.
Talk since, though not from Bruins players, had revolved around Boston seeking measures of revenge against Cooke - and possibly Penguins stars such as Crosby - because Savard is likely out for the season with a Grade 2 concussion.
That talk, like a Bruins broadcaster's call for Boston players to knock out some of Crosby's teeth, was cheap.
Goals by wingers Tyler Kennedy, Alexei Ponikarovsky and forward Mike Rupp staked the Penguins to a commanding victory that, combined with New Jersey's shootout loss at Toronto, put coach Dan Bylsma's club back on top of the Atlantic Division - by a point over the Devils.
"There's an anxiety and emotion that goes into this game that you can't deny because of the outside attention," Bylsma said. "It felt like the anticipation of a playoff game ... in terms of the emotion going in and waiting to see how your team is going to deal.
"This is one of those games your team is going to find out a little bit about yourself. We stuck with it."
The Penguins (42-24-5, 89 points) stuck with this five-game road trip, which they finished at 2-2-1 - no small accomplishment given an alarming 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday night.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled from that game near the midpoint after allowing four goals on 13 shots. He turned aside 17 shots against Boston to record his first shutout since March 25, 2009.
"I was disappointed (at New Jersey), but it wasn't the end of the world," Fleury said, adding that he was saying "I need this, I need this" as the timed ticked away toward his shutout.
Boston fans wanted their club to turn time back to the 1969-70 Cup champion Bruins that were honored before the game. A ceremony wrapped with Chara and Crosby lining up for a ceremonial puck drop that featured Bruins all-time great Bobby Orr.
Chara and Crosby did not shake hands, as is custom for participating club captains.
A few minutes later, Cooke and Thornton were scrapping, and Bylsma said that fight settled the game - if not a sellout crowd that finished by jeering the hometown club.
"I thought somehow we deserved it," Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask said. "It tough, but it's understandable. If I (were) a fan, I'd probably do the same thing."
Note:Penguins center Evgeni Malkin missed a second straight game with a bruised foot. He briefly skated during an optional morning practice, but only lightly.
