(Montreal) Two teams in the midst of a three-game losing streak met Thursday night at the Bell Center. Only one of them looked like drifting formation.
Sidney Crosby scored early in the game, Tristan Jarry turned back 24 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-0.
The Habs once again seemed disorganized for most of the evening and paid dearly for their mistakes. He thus conceded a fourth loss in a row (0-3-1).
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Cayden Primeau allowed five goals on 31 shots in the first 40 minutes of play. Samuel Montembeault took over in the third period in front of the Canadiens net (4-13-2) and stopped 11 shots.
Teddy Blueger had two goals and an assist and Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, while Danton Heinen and Brock McGinn also hit the target for the Penguins (6-6-4). Bryan Rust, Zach Aston-Reese and John Marino each had two assists and Jarry was credited with a first shutout this season, an eighth in his career.
The two teams met for the first time since August 7, 2020, when the Canadiens knocked out the Penguins in the qualifying series in the NHL bubble in Toronto.
Defenseman Mattias Norlinder was playing his first career NHL game. The Canadiens’ third-round pick in 2019 replaced Chris Wideman in the lineup.
Cole Caufield was also in uniform for the Canadiens after being recalled from the Laval Rocket earlier today. For his part, Alex Belzile was sold to the Habs school club in the American Hockey League.
The Canadiens will play their next game on Saturday, when the Nashville Predators will be visiting the Bell Center.
Evening to forget
The Penguins quickly took control of the game, scoring after just 3:36 of play.
A turnaround in the neutral zone caused by Jeff Petry allowed the visitors to attack in excess. Crosby easily completed a nice exchange started by Rust and Guentzel.
The Canadian had a great opportunity to reply after just over seven minutes of play. Norlinder orchestrated a good climb, but Christian Dvorak missed the target with a close range shot.
The Penguins widened the lead with 7:22 left in the first period, just at the end of a power play. Heinen took advantage of a favorable jump from the gang and beat Primeau.
The visitors were not yet satisfied. Guentzel added his own third goal in the first twenty with 46.7 remaining in the period, after another redundant attack.
Despite his late scoring, the Canadian played with intensity on his return from the locker room. Caufield and Norlinder were at the heart of the home side’s best scoring chances. The Habs, however, continued to be unable to find the back of the net.
The Penguins then stunned the Canadiens by adding two goals late in the second period. Blueger first took advantage of Aston-Reese’s perfect staging with 6:11 left, then McGinn deflected a long shot from Mike Matheson into the goal with 3:48 to go.
The Canadian generated a few chances in the third period, but couldn’t save the honor with a goal to deprive Jarry of the shutout.
Blueger turned the iron in the wound, scoring his second breakaway goal of the night with 10.6 seconds left.