Casey DeSmith takes loss in relief as Bruins surge past slumping Penguins in Winter Classic

BOSTON — The Pittsburgh Penguins left New England with a 2-1 loss against the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Monday.

They also left without their top goaltender.

With the game still scoreless, Tristan Jarry, a two-time All-Star, suffered an undisclosed injury and left the contest at 15 minutes, 30 seconds of the first period.

Replaced by backup Casey DeSmith, Jarry grimaced as he left the ice and appeared to be and lumbered to the visiting dugout at the iconic baseball venue. Appearing to focus somewhat on his upper right leg, Jarry was escorted by the team’s head physician, Dr. Dharmesh Vyas.

Following the game, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan indicated Jarry was still being evaluated and did not provide any specifics. Before departing, Jarry stopped all eight shots he had faced.

As for the result, it continued a streak of futility for the Penguins who have now lost five consecutive games.

Despite the outcome, the Penguins professed optimism over how they performed on Monday.

“We played a good game,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “I felt like our game wasn’t great since the Christmas break. Did some really good things. Just got to find a way to work it out.”

Each squad had to work through less-than-ideal conditions. While the weather – it was dry and temperatures were primarily in the upper 40s - was perfectly acceptable for an outdoor venue, the ice, as is often the case with these contests, was “sticky” by the account of some players. That led to a lot of fairly rudimentary tactics by both teams.

“The overall style of play, I think, was different than what we normally see,” Penguins forward Teddy Blueger said. “Just a lot of high flips and simple plays just given the circumstances and ice conditions.”

Following a scoreless first period, Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen’s sixth goal of the season broke the ice — not literally — at 8:40 of the second period.

From the center red line near his own bench, Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta chipped the puck deep up the right wing wall onto the Bruins’ end boards. Forechecking Penguins forwards Danton Heinen and Jeff Carter won the puck battle on the boards against Bruins defensemen Connor Clifton and Derek Forbort, allowing Heinen to backhand a short-area pass from behind the cage to the left of the crease.

From there, Kapanen dropped to both knees and elevated an immediate wrister over goaltender Ullmark’s left shoulder on the far side. Heinen and Carter had assists.

“Just an amazing atmosphere out there,” Kapanen said. “A special moment. It was something special for me, for sure.”

A hard-earned goal by Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk tied the score 1-1 at 7:46 of the third period. After falling to the ice as a result of absorbing a one-timer by Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk on the back of his right leg, DeBrusk recovered to his skates and accepted a pass to the right of the Penguins’ cage then jammed a forehand shot past DeSmith’s right leg for his 15th goal. Assists went to linemate Brad Marchand and Grzelcyk.

“He’s a lot tougher than people think,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “And he’s more committed than people are aware.”

DeBrusk scored a less painful goal to put his team in the lead for the first time this contest at 17:36 of the third. After gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Bruins forward David Krejci veered to the high slot and offloaded the puck to forward Taylor Hall in the left circle. Driving toward the cage, Hall cut across the front of the crease and had his backhand shot denied by DeSmith’s left foot. DeBrusk got free to the right of the blue paint and cleaned up the rebound with a forehand shot. Hall and Krejci tallied assists.

The Penguins made a late push after pulling DeSmith for an extra attacker and came close to tying the game. A wrister by Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin from the right hashmarks of the Bruins’ zone clunked through Ullmark’s five hole but after the clock hit zero and the final horn blared.

DeSmith recorded the loss after making 19 saves on 21 shots. His record fell to 4-7-2 as his team fell for the fifth consecutive outing and potentially lost their starting goaltender for the foreseeable future.

“We’ve got to find a way to close out games,” Crosby said. “At least get a point. When you’ve got a lead in the third like that, it’s not easy when you give up the lead, but you’ve got to find a way to at least gather a point out of it and see what happens in overtime.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that. We’ve got to learn from it.”

Notes:

• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was scratched because of an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him since Friday. He also took a leave of absence from the team to attend to family in Montreal after the death of his father, Claude Fouquet.

• In Letang’s absence, defenseman Brian Dumoulin, a native of Biddeford, Maine, and a Boston College product, served as an alternate captain for the Penguins.

• Penguins forward Ryan Poehling was scratched due to an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, reserve forward Drew O’Connor was a healthy scratch. That led to the Penguins dressing an irregular lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Sullivan declined to elaborate as to what went into the decision to deploy such a lineup.

• Chad Ruhwedel was part of that lineup after missing two games due to an undisclosed injury.

• Heinen recorded his 100th career assist.

• The Penguins’ loss continued a trend of mostly futility for Pittsburgh teams at Fenway Park. All-time, Pittsburgh squads are 7-17-0 at the famed venue.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are 4-12 all-time at Fenway Park, their last victory being a 2-0 triumph June 18, 2005 against the Boston Red Sox.

Pitcher Rick White recorded the win after relieving starter David Williams. Closer Jose Mesa recorded the save. RBIs were recorded by catcher Humberto Cota and designated hitter Ryan Doumit.

That was also their only victory against the Red Sox as a visitor. All-time, they are 1-5 in road games against the Red Sox.

In the early 20th century, they played a handful of games against the Boston Braves, now located in Atlanta. During the 1914 and 1915 seasons, the Pirates went 3-7 against the Braves who were forced to play games at Fenway Park due to seating limitations at their facility, Braves Field.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-5 all-time at the venue.

The first four contests took place in the 1930s. Then also known as the Pirates, they faced off against the Boston Redskins, a franchise that is now the Washington Commanders, four times, going 1-3.

Their first victory at Fenway Park came in their first season, a 16-14 win Oct. 29, 1933.

A pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Paul Holm to end Paul Moss (30 yards) and running back Ed Westfall (60 yards) as well as a 21-yard field goal by lineman Paul “Tiny” Engebretsen propelled the Pirates to the third win in franchise history.

During the 1940s, the Steelers battled the now defunct Boston Yanks four times, going 2-2.

They enjoyed a 33-7 victory on Oct. 27, 1946 thanks to two touchdowns by Hall of Fame running back “Bullet” Bill Dudley, one on a 23-yard lateral and the other being an 80-yard reception.

Their most recent win at Fenway Park was a 30-14 triumph on Oct. 12, 1947. A pair of one-yard touchdown runs by running back Steve Lach, a native of Altoona, helped the cause that day.