Jake DeBrusk scored a pair of third-period goals to lead the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins in Monday afternoon's NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park.
DeBrusk netted the winner with 2:24 left in regulation, following the play after Taylor Hall cut inside from the left wing and had a backhand shot stopped by Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith.
It was DeBrusk's fifth goal and seventh point in the last six games for the Bruins, who are 8-0-3 in their last 11 games and have won four of their five all-time outdoor contests.
DeBrusk recorded the 19th multi-goal game in NHL outdoor game history and the second by a Bruins player after David Pastrnak scored a hat trick in the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe.
Linus Ullmark (21-1-1) made 26 saves for Boston, holding off a late Pittsburgh flurry on which Evgeni Malkin beat him just after the final buzzer sounded.
Kasperi Kapanen scored the lone goal for Pittsburgh, which is now on a five-game losing streak.
Fenway, MLB's oldest active ballpark, was transformed into an outdoor hockey arena for the 14th edition of the Winter Classic
With the logos of the two teams - the Bruins and Penguins - hanging high atop the seats above the park´s fabled 37-foot Green Monster, the league´s annual marquee New Year´s event was held at Fenway for the second time.
Those usually clad in red and blue for the Boston Red Sox were replaced by thousands wearing black and gold (actually, the colors of both NHL teams), and they lined up around the soon-to-be 111-year old park hours before the faceoff.
The rink stretched from just beyond what´s usually second base across the middle of the diamond, over the pitcher´s mound where Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez worked for the Red Sox, and toward the visitors´ dugout on an unseasonably warm afternoon with temperatures in the upper 40s.
Last season´s Classic was played at Target Field in Minnesota - the home of MLB´s Twins - and saw the temperature drop to minus-5.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the opening period, Pittsburgh had a 14-10 edge in shots, but neither team found the back of the net.
Each team did hit the goalpost within a 10-second span as DeBrusk fired a shot from the left circle off iron, leading to an odd-man rush opportunity for Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel.
Kapanen opened the scoring 8:40 into the second period, slotting home former Bruin Danton Heinen's feed from behind the net with a wrist shot from his knees just outside the left circle.
Jeff Carter also assisted on Kapanen's goal, marking his second helper in as many Winter Classic games at Fenway. He was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.
DeSmith logged three big saves in the final 20 seconds of the middle frame, knocking down a David Pastrnak wrister with his glove before the period ended.
Just after a power play expired, the Bruins netted the tying goal with 12:14 left in regulation. DeBrusk spun free to score at the net front after Brad Marchand deked around a defender and dropped a pass from the right side.
