BOSTON -- The Penguins did not lose this game because their power play was shut out again.
The Bruins did not beat them, 4-1, at TD Garden Thursday night because the Penguins' top two lines never came close to getting a puck past Boston goalie Jaroslav Halak.
And they weren't defeated because it looked as if most Boston forwards had an impenetrable force field around them when they got near the Penguins' crease.
No, all of those simply were symptoms of why the Penguins lost for the 10th consecutive time in Boston: The Bruins simply were more invested in doing what it took to win.
And it showed in every facet of the game, all over the ice.
"They just outworked us today," Teddy Blueger said. "Won most of the puck battles, the one-on-one battles. ... That's something we need more of, just try to be harder to play against, a little more physical and try to work together."
The Penguins needed a late surge to get their total of shots on Halak to 17, only three of which were generated during their three unproductive chances with the man-advantage.
A core principle of playing with the man-advantage is that good things tend to happen when you get pucks to the net. There are deflections and rebounds, and general chaos that can lead to breakdowns in the structure of the penalty-killing unit.
Those are the kinds of situations that the Penguins' skilled forwards should be able to exploit, but the whole process is short-circuited when members of the power play focus on throwing the puck to one another rather than toward the goalie.
"We have to get more pucks at the net to give our guys an opportunity to create off of that shot," Mike Sullivan said.
There have been times this season when the power play has been menacing, just as there were moments during their 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins Tuesday that Evgeni Malkin appeared to be breaking out of his season-long funk.
Whatever caused that, however, seemed to be out of his system by Thursday night, and he again was a non-factor for most of the evening.
"Last game, I felt a little bit better for sure, and my line played a little bit better," Malkin said. "I understand that I'm not playing great right now."
So does everyone else who has watched him during the Penguins' 4-3-1 start, although Malkin made it clear that he isn't giving up on getting his game back in synch.
"It's tough to say about my game right now many good things, but I hope it's coming," he said. "And I believe in myself."
Fair enough, but it's unlikely that anyone predicted that he would be tied with Cody Ceci in goals when the season had moved into its third week.
Ceci, though, was the only Penguin to score Thursday, as he chipped the puck into the slot, then chased it down before snapping a shot past Halak at 15:03 of the opening period to tie the game, 1-1:
It was Ceci's first goal in 59 games, since Oct. 4, 2019, and helped to offset a grievous error by Kevin Czuczman, who was playing in an NHL game for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
His weak clearing attempt went directly to Boston's Chris Wagner, who beat Tristan Jarry from the slot to put the Bruins up, 1-0, at 6:10 of the first:
Czuczman, of course, was only on the roster, let alone in the game, because of the glut of injuries on the Penguins' defense, which is missing its top four left-handed shots.
"It's tough having that many injuries on the back end," Ceci said.
The tie Ceci's goal created lasted less than four minutes, as Sean Kuraly put Boston in front to stay at 18:53, when Anders Bjork's soft shot from the top of the left circle hit him on the way to the net and eluded Jarry.
Patrice Bergeron padded the Bruins' margin of victory by scoring one goal in the second and another in the third, but there was never a time after Kuraly's goal that Boston was particularly threatened.
"They played a stronger game than we did tonight," Ceci said. "And it showed."
One of the things it showed was how much room the Penguins have for improvement. The Bruins provided a pretty good template of solid two-way hockey, especially defensively.
"Structure and commitment," Sullivan said. "That's what good defense is. That's how you play a stingy game, and Boston has it."
It's an example of the kind of commitment the Penguins should expect to make on a regular basis if they're serious about contending for anything more than a simple playoff berth.
"We have to play the game the right way," Sullivan said. "We have to defend when it's called upon and not just try to outscore teams. You have to be harder to play against if we're going to find success consistently. And we weren't hard to play against tonight."
Just hard to watch.
• The Penguins finished with a 26-20 edge in hits, even though their forwards could expect contact whenever they got near Halak, while Penguins defensemen rarely tried to punish Bruins who went to the net.
• Boston again dominated on faceoffs, going 27-16. Malkin (5-3) was the only Penguin to finish above .500 while handling more than one draw.
• The Penguins are 0-8-2 in their past 10 games in Boston.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at TD Garden:
1. Patrice Bergeron, Bruins
2. Charlie McAvoy, Bruins
3. Anders Bjork, Bruins
THE INJURIES
• Forward Zach Aston-Reese is still recovering from the left shoulder surgery he underwent in August and has been skating with the taxi squad since the end of training camp.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman underwent right knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Jan. 14 and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks
• Defenseman Mike Matheson is out "longer term" with an upper-body injury sustained on Jan. 15. He's been skating in a non-contact jersey.
• Defenseman Juuso Riikola is out "longer term" with an upper-body injury sustained on Jan. 19
• Defenseman Marcus Pettersson is "week-to-week" with an upper-body injury sustained on Jan. 19.
• Forward Evan Rodrigues is "longer term" with a lower-body injury sustained on Jan. 25.
• Defenseman Brian Dumoulin is week-to-week with an unspecified lower-body injury sustained on Jan. 27.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Kasperi Kapanen
Jared McCann-Teddy Blueger-Brandon Tanev
Drew O'Connor-Mark Jankowski-Colton Sceviour
P.O Joseph-Kris Letang
John Marino-Cody Ceci
Kevin Czuczman-Chad Ruhwedel
And for Bruce Cassidy's Bruins:
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie-David Krejci-Charlie Coyle
Anders Bjork-Sean Kuraly-Chris Wagner
Trent Frederic-Par Lindholm-Jack Studnicka
Jeremy Lauzon-Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk-Brandon Carlo
Jakub Zboril-Kevan Miller
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins are scheduled to have a day off in New York Friday before facing the Rangers Saturday at 7:08 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
THE CONTENT
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