Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais came up empty in the breakaway competition.
Advertisement
The Pittsburgh Penguins got away with a awful second period against the NHL’s best-record team, but that’s becoming typical for a team with not-great statistics but a pretty good record. The Canadiens won the opener 3-2 in Pittsburgh October 13. Pascal Dupuis is expected to return after an undisclosed health issue caused him to sit out of two games on the Pens’ West Coast trip as a precaution.
In the third period, with the Penguins trailing 3-2, with 6:25 remaining, Crosby made a brilliant play in the neutral zone to send Patric Hornqvist up ice, where he tied the game with an unstoppable shot.
Sorry, this video is not available in your country/region.
Dupuis scored 13 seconds in, one-timing a feed from Crosby past goalie Mike Condon.
This is the second of three meetings this season between the Eastern Conference rivals. Surely, it won’t be his last.
“We had a good talk after the second period and came out strong and got a big win”, Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said.
Hornqvist’s third goal of the season tied it in the third.
They are 10-5 after losing their first three to start the season. Their power play also failed to win the game during a 4-on-3 OT opportunity.
Condon, who hasn’t lost in regulation this season, made 31 saves.
Brendan Gallagher scored his seventh goal for Montreal and Brian Flynn his second, both in the second period. The Canadiens have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their last seven games.
By not allowing a power play goal in the game, Montreal’s penalty kill improved to 89.7 per cent efficiency (2nd overall in the league).
Phil Kessel of the Pittsburgh Penguins handles the puck in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
Andrei Markov celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
For the Canadiens, captain Max Pacioretty is starting to heat up as he answered a five-game point drought with two assists in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the NY Islanders before scoring a goal two nights later in a 4-2 win over the Bruins.
Advertisement
Condon couldn’t be faulted for the loss. And he has still yet to complete a game without helping his team pick up points in the standings (6-0-2).
