Extra special victory

PITTSBURGH -- The offense had been missing against Montreal and Buffalo, but the Bruins insisted they were not panicking. They were confident, despite the two losses, that their scoring touch would come.

Well, the scoring touch finally arrived, but their defense went missing. In fact, there wasn't any defense played on either side. But Boston brought its ''A" game and mounted an astounding third-period comeback to force overtime and beat the potent Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-6, last night at Mellon Arena.

Right wing Glen Murray, who had a monster game (2 goals, 2 assists), scored on a one-timer 1:23 into the extra session to lift the Bruins to their first win of the season.

Penguins fans were understandably pumped up for the club's home opener and first look at phenom Sidney Crosby, who didn't disappoint. But the Bruins stole the show, coming back from a pair of two-goal deficits to prevail.

Coach Mike Sullivan was perturbed by his club's lackluster performance against the Sabres Friday night. He challenged his team to step up.

''I give our players credit, I thought they competed hard," said Sullivan. ''It was a very emotional game. I'm sure it was exciting for the fans.

''I said to [the players] before the game, I think this game is the first game of the year that was just a huge gut-check for us. After the effort we had in Buffalo, I thought it was important for us to have a strong effort tonight. I thought our whole team responded. I thought our leadership really stepped up tonight."

The first period set the tone with five goals, three by the Penguins. However, the Bruins broke out of their power-play slump, scoring a pair on the man-advantage. Zigmund Palffy started the barrage when he beat Hannu Toivonen (making his NHL debut) between the pads at 3:34.

The Bruins pulled even on a power-play goal by Sergei Samsonov, who was set up by Murray. Murray took the puck to the net, trying to put it by goalie Sebastien Caron, but the netminder stopped his initial bid. However, Samsonov jammed in the rebound at 11:01.

The Penguins answered with a man-advantage tally of their own at 12:25. Left wing Ryan Malone, deep in the right circle, relayed the puck back to defenseman Ric Jackman at the right point. Jackman teed up a slapper that Toivonen kicked out but Mario Lemieux was there to bury the rebound from deep in the left circle.

Boston answered at 15:41 on Patrice Bergeron's second goal of the season, again set up by the strong play of Murray. Murray, with the puck in the left circle, saw Bergeron sprinting down the right side and dished it to the center for the five-on-four strike and it was 2-2.

Pittsburgh took its third lead of the contest on an even-strength goal by Jackman at 16:01. Crosby collected a pass from Mark Recchi and from the top of the right circle, he fed Jackman in the left circle. Jackman's shot eluded Toivonen to make it 3-2.

The Penguins made it a two-goal edge 26 seconds into the second period and two seconds after their power play expired when Crosby beat veteran defenseman Hal Gill down the right circle and sent a pass across the slot to defenseman Brooks Orpik, who beat Toivonen.

Boston rallied to tie it midway through the period before falling behind again. At 8:57, right wing Patrick Leahy tallied his first NHL goal on a beautiful move. Linemate Colton Orr set a pick for Leahy, who grabbed the puck, deked down the left circle, and buried a shot inside the left post by Caron.

A Caron error led to Boston's fourth goal. The netminder tried to clear the puck up the boards but was picked off by right wing Tom Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald got it to P.J. Axelsson, who gave it to Travis Green in the slot to make it 4-4 at 10:30.

But Lemieux retaliated at 11:44. He took a puck off the backboards, skated to the left post, and tried to jam it into the net. Toivonen made the initial save but couldn't hold his position at the post and Lemieux's second whack went in.

The Mellon Arena erupted with 1:28 left when Crosby potted his first goal. With Pittsburgh again on the power play, the puck ended up in a scramble in front of the net. After the puck pinballed off several players, Crosby collected it off to Toivonen's left and he didn't miss. He received a standing ovation for his efforts and picked up his third point of the night.

Murray made it a one-goal deficit again when he beat Caron to the stick side at 7:48 of the third and center Brad Boyes brought them all the way back when he converted a Leahy pass at 9:05 for his first NHL goal and set the stage for Murray's heroics.

''We showed a lot of heart tonight coming back," said Murray. ''You've just got to keep working hard, that's what it takes. We were getting the opportunities and we capitalized, plain and simple. We know we can score, we just have to execute. A lot of guys stepped up."