Bruins beat Pens to extend unbeaten streak to 7

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins, the NHL's worst team last season, head into the all-star break with a seven-game unbeaten streak after Wednesday night's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bruins squandered a 2-0 lead they took 7:25 into the game before Ted Donato broke a 2-2 tie at 5:44 of the third period with his 15th goal of the season.

The Bruins, revived by the defensive system implemented by their first-year coach Pat Burns, are 4-0-3 in their last seven games before Sunday's all-star game in Vancouver and 21-16-9 overall. Last season, they lost their last three games before the all-star break when they were 16-22-6.

Boston had just 61 points all last season. With 51 now, it trails Pittsburgh by five in the Northeast Division. The Penguins and Montreal began the day tied for the lead.

The Bruins went ahead on goals by Jason Allison and Steve Heinze, but Pittsburgh tied the game on goals by Tyler Wright at 11:00 of the first period and Alexei Morozov at 12:04 of the second.

Boston goalie Byron Dafoe improved his record in his last six starts to 4-0-2 and has allowed just six goals in that span. The Bruins shorthanded play also remained strong. They killed three penalties, stretching their streak to 22 without a goal.

The Penguins couldn't maintain their road superiority, falling to 14-8-4 away from home after losing their fifth consecutive game in Boston.

The Bruins showed excellent offensive teamwork on Donato's tie-breaking goal. Heinze passed the puck from the left corner to Dave Ellett at the left point. Ellett then slid a shot just to the right of the net where Donato was standing. Donato chipped the puck high over goalie Tom Barasso.

Sergei Samsonov made it 4-2 at 17:45 and Tim Taylor added an empty-net goal.

Allison started the scoring only 40 seconds into the game when he carried the puck up the right side, went behind the net and slid it under Barasso after coming around the other side. It was his team-leading 17th goal.

Heinze got his 11th goal when he found himself alone in front of Barasso after taking a pass from Anson Carter. After two fakes, Heinze easily beat the goalie as the Bruins scored on two of their first four shots.

Wright, who last scored on Oct. 3, got a fluke goal when he shot the puck from behind the goal line off Dafoe's skate and into the net.

Pittsburgh held Boston to three shots in the second period and tied the score at 12:04 on Morozov's goal, a flip shot over Dafoe's left glove set up by Jaromir Jagr's pass across the slot.