Published: November 10, 2009 11:43 pm      

Bruins blank Penguins

BOSTON — Tim Thomas stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season, and Sidney Crosby was held without a point for the fifth straight game as the Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Matt Hunwick backhanded a rebound under the crossbar, then had to wait 77 seconds for a whistle so NHL officials could consult a video replay and give Boston the goal. Mark Recchi had the 900th assist of his career, Daniel Paille had his first goal with the Bruins, and Patrice Bergeron added a short-handed empty-netter with

3.5 seconds left as Boston won back-to-back games for the first time all season.

Thomas recorded his 14th shutout – passing Andy Moog for 10th on the Bruins’ career list – while handing Pittsburgh its second straight shutout.

The Penguins have not scored in 149 minutes, nine seconds and have lost three straight games – all away from home – after opening the season 7-0 on the road.

It is the longest losing streak of the season for the Penguins, and their longest since Dan Bylsma took over as head coach on Feb. 15 and led them to the Stanley Cup championship.

Marc-Andre Fleury made

26 saves.

Pittsburgh, already without Stanley Cup playoffs MVP Evgeni Malkin along with Kris Letang, Sergei Gonchar and Tyler Kennedy, lost former Boston College defenseman Brooks Orpik in the first period to an unspecified injury.