Pittsburgh, PA- Frank Vatrano scored his first career hat trick on Friday night to help lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center.
Vatrano, a rookie forward called up from AHL Providence last month, now has scored 5 goals in 17 games.
Forward Conor Sheary had staked Pittsburgh to a 1-0 lead with his first career NHL goal at 8:20 of the first period but Vatrano tied it just 1:43 later. Early in the second period the Bruins took their first lead on a shorthanded goal by Patrice Bergeron at 1:03 only to have the Pens tie it back up on a Trevor Daley goal 1:36 later.
Boston (18-9-4) would take control almost halfway through the middle period as Loui Eriksson restored the Bruins lead with his 12th of the year on the powerplay to make it 3-2.
Bergeron extended the Bruins lead to 4-2 just 35 seconds into the third period before Vatrano scored goals exactly three minutes apart at 12:18 and 15:18 to put the game away and help Boston defeat the Pens for the second time in three days and sweep the home and home. Pittsburgh is also 0-3-0 under new coach Mike Sullivan and have been outscored 13-3 in those three games.
Tuuka Rask picked up another victory with another strong performance in net making 30 saves. The Bruins are now 10-1-3 in their last 14 games and trail their rival the Montreal Canadiens by only 3 points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Bruins will host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday evening at the TD Garden with faceoff scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
