by By STEVE CONROY , The Boston Herald

The B's finally strung together back-to-back wins, following up Saturday's victory against Buffalo with a 3-0 shutout of the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins at the Garden.

The game hardly was a measuring stick for either team, as both are dealing with significant injuries. The Pens were missing Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang, while the B's still were without Marc Savard and Milan Lucic.

But the Bruins certainly will take the two points, as well as the momentum they've had such a hard time creating this season.

Matt Hunwick scored early in the second period, and Daniel Paille, sprung on a breakaway by Mark Recchi, gave the B's some breathing room early in the third. Patrice Bergeron added an empty-netter with 3.5 seconds to play, his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

Tim Thomas made it all stand up, stopping all 27 shots he faced for his second shutout.

The B's played well in a scoreless first period. The Pens had the only power play of the period when Vladimir Sobotka was called for a questionable tripping penalty, but the hosts did a good job of killing it off, blocking a handful of Pittsburgh offerings before they reached Thomas.

The B's outshot the Pens 10-2 and skated well in the period, though they didn't have many high-quality shots. The best one might have been a high-slot wrister from Michael Ryder.

The Pens' best chance never made it on net. Chris Kunitz made a nifty cross-ice feed to Jordan Staal in the right circle, but his quick shot missed the far corner.

As if the visitors didn't have enough injury problems heading into the contest, they also lost defenseman Brooks Orpik when the former Boston College standout crashed into the end boards in a tangle with Mark Stuart early in the first. He did not return to the ice, and the Penguins only said he suffered a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated back in Pittsburgh.

The B's broke the ice at 1:36 of the second, though it took awhile to confirm that fact. Hunwick moved down the right wing and took a shot that got stopped in front of Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury. As the puck pinballed around, Hunwick swooped behind the net, got the loose rubber on the right side and lifted a backhander into the top shelf.

With the puck bouncing out quickly after hitting the iron in the back of the net, the referee down low originally ruled it no goal. Play continued for a full 1:20 before a stoppage, when the play was reviewed and correctly called a goal.

After the clock was wound back to the time of the goal, a different game seemed to unfold. The Pens all of a sudden began to skate, and they hemmed the B's in their own zone. Pittsburgh eventually outshot the B's 13-7 in the second period, and the host blocked seven additional Penguins shots.

Thomas didn't have to be spectacular, but he played solidly to preserve the slim one-goal lead going into the third.

- sconroy@bostonherald.com

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