BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask's consistency reached new heights on Wednesday night.

The Bruins goaltender posted his 30th career shutout and center Max Talbot, left winger Jimmy Hayes and center Ryan Spooner provided the offense in Boston's 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in a nationally televised game at TD Garden.

"We've been fortunate here, anyways in my time here, that we've had some great goaltenders come through," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He's a guy that when he's on his game, he's one of the best, and he's feeling it in the last little while."

Rask had 34 saves and now trails Tim Thomas by one for third place on the Bruins' career shutouts list. It was the fourth perfect game of the season for Rask, who has nine consecutive games with a point, going 7-0-2 during that span.

"The way we play, our system, it's very helpful for goalies," Rask said. "Today, they had a lot of shots against, but for the most part they kept them outside. So when we do that, it gives us a chance to win and keep the goals against low."

Boston (17-9-4) has won three of its last four games and improved to 4-4 in December.

Jeff Zatkoff made 25 saves in net for Pittsburgh (15-12-3), which lost its third game in a row and has dropped five of its last six. Zatkoff started in place of injured Marc-Andre Fleury, who suffered a concussion during Monday's game and will be sidelined one to two weeks.

The Penguins failed to pick up their first win under new coach Mike Sullivan, who replaced fired Mike Johnston on Sunday. Sullivan, a Marshfield, Mass., native who played and coached in Boston, suffered a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in his debut on the bench Monday.

"I think everyone has to prove themselves (to a new coach) and you have to earn your ice time, earn your roles and your responsibilities and at the same time you got to learn on the fly," Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. "You know there are some different things that he may ask and we got to be ready to accept that do whatever you got to do to help contribute."

Before Wednesday, Sullivan hadn't coached a game at TD Garden in nearly 10 years.

Talbot netted his first goal with the Bruins at 9:52 of the first period, sending a wrister from the right circle past Zatkoff to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Hayes was credited with an assist after his neutral-zone hit to Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, which forced a costly giveaway.

Hayes' fifth goal of the season doubled Boston's lead four minutes into the second period after the puck deflected into the net off the charging forward on a pass from Spooner.

Sullivan challenged the call, citing goaltender interference, but the referees upheld the goal.

Minutes later, Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid left the game after taking a Dumoulin slap shot to the face. McQuaid instantly fell to the ice but got up after a few moments and skated off the ice to the dressing room. He returned to the bench in the closing minutes of the period.

Spooner sealed the victory with an empty-net power-play goal with 2:43 left in the third period, his eighth of the season.

Pittsburgh and Boston meet again Friday night at CONSOL Energy Center for the conclusion of a home-and-home series.

"Now you've got to go back there understanding that they're going to be hungry and they're going to be ready for us," Julien said. "Again, as you often hear coaches say, let's park this one, let's move on to the next."

NOTES: Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan was 70-56-23-15 in two seasons as Boston's coach. Sullivan also played for the Bruins in 1997-98. ... Penguins D Trevor Daley, acquired in the trade that sent D Rob Scuderi to the Chicago Blackhawks, said he requested the deal. "I don't know that I got the opportunity to even know that I couldn't fit into the system," Daley told Yahoo! Sports. ... Pittsburgh C Nick Bonino (illness) did not play. ... The Penguins recalled G Matt Murray and Fs Conor Sheary and Kevin Porter from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday after placing D Kris Letang and F Beau Bennett on injured reserve. ... Boston recalled C Alexander Khokhlachev from AHL Providence. "The few games that he played here I thought he competed hard, worked hard," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. ... Bruins F Zac Rinaldo (upper body injury) was placed on injured reserve Monday.