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Roberts scores twice as Penguins top Bruins

Dec 24, 2007 - 12:18 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Gary Roberts and the Pittsburgh Penguins continued their recent success against the Boston Bruins.

Roberts scored twice and helped on another as the Penguins posted a 4-2 victory over the Bruins on Sunday.

Georges Laraque had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Malkin also tallied for Pittsburgh, which has beaten Boston in four straight games, including a 5-4 shootout victory on Thursday. In that game, the Penguins blew a four-goal lead before winning in the bonus format.

On Sunday, Boston had a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal by P.J. Axelsson just over three minutes into the first period before Pittsburgh came roaring back with three of its own in the middle session.

The Penguins tied it at the 2:16 mark of the second when Laraque threw a pass from behind the net to Roberts, who made an easy tap-in past goaltender Alex Auld.

"Georges is 260 pounds, how do you get the puck from the guy?" Roberts said. "You can't get around him and you can't get through him. So, as a linemate, you just try to look for the right time to yell for the puck."

The goal was the first in 30 games for Roberts.

Two goals 30 seconds apart kept Pittsburgh comfortably ahead.

Malkin blasted a power-play slap shot over Auld's left shoulder with 6:54 left in the second period to give the Penguins their first lead. Veteran blue-liner Sergei Gonchar was credited with the second assist on the goal, giving him 400 for his career.

Penguins' coach Michel Therrien felt this goal was an important one for his team.

"It was a big goal on the power play," Therrien said. "It gave some confidence to the power-play unit to be able to score that goal. It was a great shot by Malkin."

Seconds later, the Pittsburgh defense made a steal in its own zone which led to a 3-on-2 break with Roberts feeding Laraque at the doorstep to make it, 3-1, a half minute later. The tally was the enforcer's second of the season and 50th of his career.

"I like playing with those two guys (Roberts and Eric Christensen) and hopefully it will keep going," Laraque said.

"It's a game of momentum out there," Axelsson said. "It switches all the time and they took advantage of the momentum they had in the second period. We have got to be better at changing the tide."

The Penguins kept their two-goal lead until Petteri Nokelainen redirected a shot by Peter Schaefer past Pittsburgh netminder Ty Conklin with 52 seconds left.

"We tried to battle our way back into it with a late goal again, but a little too late I guess," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Roberts slapped in an empty netter for his third goal of the season with nine ticks on the clock to preserve the win.

Conklin stopped 28 shots for the Penguins, who snapped a two-game home slide.

"There weren't a lot of shots from in tight, so it makes you look better," Conklin said.

Auld made 21 saves for the Bruins, who have lost four straight and five of six.

"It's frustrating," Boston's Marc Savard said. "You want to score goals - that's the fun of the game - putting the puck in the other team's net. When you're only getting one or two a game, it's deflating and weighs on you.

"But we'll go home, get refreshed, and hopefully the offense will get going when we come back."