Sidney Crosby once again led the way for the Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring two goals in the 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. In net, Alex Nedeljkovic picked up his second victory of the season and made a total of 26 saves on the night.
With the win, the Penguins move to 5-7-1 on the season, while the Canadiens fall to 4-7-1 after being stymied by Nedeljkovic for most of the game.
Game Recap
The first period ended with the Penguins leading 1-0. They controlled most of the offensive zone play, having more than double the offensive zone time that the Canadiens had. A strong forecheck throughout the period finally was rewarded, with Rickard Rakell forcing a turnover and feeding Crosby for a quick shot in the slot that beat Sam Montembeault. The biggest reason the period ended with only a one-goal lead was due in large part to some big saves from the Canadiens goaltender, Montembeault. The biggest scoring threats that the Penguins faced came from turnovers from Nedeljkovic trying to play the puck, but he was able to recover and make strong saves.
In the second period, the Penguins’ power play got on the board thanks to Crosby once again, who was the beneficiary of a nice play by Kris Letang to get him the puck at the top of the circle to beat Montembault. Heading into the third period, Penguins fans worried about having a lead, as the team came into the game with six blown lead losses (most in the NHL). While the Canadiens made a push throughout the period, including the first goal of the season for Christian Dvorak, a strong defensive stand withstood the Canadiens. Offseason acquisition Blake Lizotte scored an empty net goal for his first goal in a Penguin jersey to put the game away.
The Penguins will be off until Nov. 5, when they head to New York to take on the Islanders, and the Canadiens will return home to take on the Calgary Flames on Nov. 5 as well.
