Penguins Postgame: Pens Great & Awful, Banner or Hulk?

BOSTON  — The Pittsburgh Penguins have oscillated between great, indifferent, and awful for the first three months of the NHL season.

It wasn’t until their 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins Thursday at TD Garden that they were both simultaneously. For the first 36 games, they sometimes alternated between their better angels and their worst demons, sometimes from shift to shift or game to game.

However, some of the team was great Thursday. And some of the team was terrible. They were caught between Bruce Banner and the Hulk as they raced to a 5-2 lead by midway through the second period but were tied 5-5 early in the third period.

Sidney Crosby, as he’s done so often this season, rescued his team with a wrist shot that sneaked through traffic and Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman for a power play goal and the game-winner later in the third.

It wasn’t a great night for either Swayman or Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic.

“It can be hard to just stay positive and stay with it. And I thought we did a great job of that all night,” Nedeljkovic said. “We kept going and kept taking it to them, and we responded the right way every single time they scored. So that’s huge. That’s how you want to see it. It’s not always going to be pretty.”

The Penguins avoided consecutive losses and have eight wins in their last 11 games and points in nine.