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Crosby scores twice as Penguins rout Bruins

Mar 25, 2007 - 9:56 PM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Sidney Crosby scored a pair of goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins continued their strong play at home with a 5-0 rout of the Boston Bruins.

Crosby recorded his 33rd and 34th goals of the season as the Penguins won their sixth straight at Mellon Arena.

Rookie Evgeni Malkin, Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone also tallied for Pittsburgh (43-23-10), which pulled even with Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey (96 points) with the Devils holding a game in hand.

Crosby entered the game leading the NHL with 108 points but had been held scoreless in three previous contests. He added an assist on a first-period goal by Roberts that made it 3-0.

Pittsburgh's first three goals all came on the power play. Malkin recored his 32nd goal of the season nearly 12 minutes into the opening session and Crosby added his first of the game just over four minutes later to make it 2-0.

"We're just trying to pick up rebounds in front of the net, and really try to do the dirty work there," Crosby said. "Our big key for the power play was just to get the puck on net, and we fed off of that."

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and seventh of his career for Pittsburgh, which also moved within two points of Ottawa for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.

"Just to get the win and see that the team is playing real well right before the playoffs, I think that's what's important," Fleury said. "I think everybody's confident going into the playoffs."

New Jersey plays the New York Islanders on Tuesday and holds the tiebreaker over Pittsburgh in the division.

The Penguins are now 16-2-1 in their last 19 at home.

The Bruins have lost four in a row and seven of their last nine games. The slide has all but oficially eliminated Boston from the playoff race.

"I think everybody in this room and everybody in Boston is frustrated right now," said Boston goaltender Tim Thomas, who was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots.

"Today the only (scoring) chances I recall were on the power play in the first period and we didn't score," Boston coach Dave Lewis said. "They got three goals in seven shots and that really affected our psyche the rest of the game. We gave up the first goal and the rest of the way it was a tough situation."