Game plan was to hit Chara early, often

The Penguins had a mission within the mission Sunday. From the outset of the game against Boston, they were conspiring against Bruins defenseman, captain and behemoth Zdeno Chara. They hit him early. They hit him often. "You have to," winger Arron Asham said after the Penguins beat Boston, 5-2, at Consol Energy Center. "He's one of the best defensemen in the league. He logs a lot of minutes. Our goal was to chip it in his corner and try to hit him. "It's tough when a guy's 7 feet tall and 260 pounds." Asham exaggerates. Chara is listed at 6-9, 255 pounds. Chara noticed the attention. "They came out hard," he said. "I thought they were very physical." Boston lost defenseman Adam McQuaid to an unspecified injury in the first period, so Chara played 26 minutes, 55 seconds, more than anyone else in the game and almost two minutes more than his average. The Penguins' persistence helped brand Chara with a minus-3 plus-minus rating, worst of any player in the game. "Chara's playing a lot of minutes. If you play the body on the guy early, I think he could be affected by that," Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis said. Call it the heavy-bag approach. "It takes a lot out of a big guy," Asham said. "It's like getting body shots in boxing. Eventually, you're going to wear down. He's a guy that leads their team. We were trying to chop him down slowly." Opportunistic goals The Penguins' top line of Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal sprang to life after being relatively quiet for a few games, but the game also turned on opportunistic goals from three others. During a strong forechecking shift by the fourth line (on which Eric Tangradi replaced Richard Park this game), Craig Adams got the puck to defenseman Ben Lovejoy at the right point. Lovejoy's shot clipped the stick of Boston winger Shawn Thornton and went to Asham, who whipped the puck past Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas for a 1-0 lead at 3:24 of the first period. Defenseman Matt Niskanen was at the same spot as Lovejoy was earlier after getting the puck from Malkin. He didn't just shoot it, though; he hesitated. "I kind of delayed the shot, found a lane," said Niskanen, whose shot apparently hit Chara before bouncing past Thomas for a 2-0 lead at 7:12 of the first period. "It wasn't anything special. Originally when I looked, their winger was in my lane." Dupuis turned Boston winger Milan Lucic inside-out at the far blue line, sending the puck between Lucic's skates and taking off for a long breakaway. He pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand to beat relief goalie Marty Turco for the game's final goal at 16:07 of the third period. "I just tried to go through the guy that was right there and get it out of the [defensive] zone," Dupuis said. "It was a forward, so he's not as defensive-minded as a [defenseman] who would have backed up on the blue line. "Turco came pretty far out to challenge me, so I tried to make a move on him, and it worked." Boston debut Turco replaced Thomas after the first period for his Boston debut. He was signed after backup Tuuka Rask got hurt, and wore his old Dallas Stars helmet and pads. "I think the general sentiment for me maybe -- I don't look at the big picture too often -- it felt good to get back in there and play," said Turco, who gave up two goals on 22 shots. He had played just four games in Austria this season. Tip-ins The Penguins are 15-1-1 when Dupuis scores. "I may have to score a little more," cracked Dupuis, who has 18 goals. ... Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said he restored the Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy line in the third period as a defensive measure and to counter a Bruins faceoff play that involved a defenseman taking a quick one-timer. ... Penguins defenseman Paul Martin (illness) missed his second consecutive game, and goaltender Brent Johnson (undisclosed injury) missed his ninth game in a row. ... Forwards Sidney Crosby (neck/concussion symptoms) and Dustin Jeffrey (illness/healthy scratch) and defenseman Kris Letang (concussion symptoms) skated before the game. ... The Penguins returned defensemen Simon Despres and Brian Strait to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.