The Canadian avoided reliving the same nightmare as the day before.
Anthony Richard broke the tie early in the third period, Samuel Montembeault made 38 saves and the Montreal Hockey Club ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Like the day before at the Bell Center during an eventual 8-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the Habs got off to a bad start. However, he was able to quickly stop the momentum of his rival and even took a 4-2 lead before seeing the Penguins turn up the slope.
Richard scored the game-winning goal 3:05 into the final period on a breakaway. Montembeault took care of the rest, he who was perfect against 10 shots in the third period.
Joel Edmundson had a goal and an assist, while Denis Gurianov, Jesse Ylönen, Mike Hoffman and Josh Anderson also scored for the Canadian (27-35-6). Jonathan Drouin and Justin Barron each had two assists.
On the side of the Penguins (34-23-10), Jake Guentzel scored two goals and an assist and Kristopher Letang, a goal and two assists. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist.
Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on seven shots in the first period. Casey DeSmith took over in net for the Penguins and stopped 12 shots.
Barron was back on the Canadiens’ roster after a six-game absence with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. Chris Wideman was left out.
The Penguins finished the game with just four defensemen. Jeff Petry did not return after the second intermission, while Jan Rutta fell in action early in the third period.
The Canadiens will play their next game on Thursday, when they visit the Florida Panthers.
An endless struggle
The Penguins quickly took control of the game, scoring twice in the first five minutes of play.
Guentzel got the ball rolling after 21 seconds, taking advantage of a loose puck in front of the net. Malkin then beat Montembeault at 4:49, on the power play, with a powerful one-timer shot.
The Canadian stayed in the game with a quick reply. Hoffman restarted the visitors just 32 seconds after Malkin’s goal. He completed a nice streak started by Barron and Rem Pitlick.
Ylönen tied the game at 7:13, surprising Jarry on the mitt side from the top of the slot. Gurianov then gave the Habs a 3-2 lead at 11:31, moments after a power play. He beat Jarry with a backhand after good efforts from Drouin and Alex Belzile.
Edmundson capped the Habs’ push by making it 4-2 with 11 seconds remaining in the first period. He hit home with a long one-timer shot.
The Penguins had a 17-4 shots on goal advantage in the second period and their efforts were rewarded twice.
Shortly after a spectacular save by Montembeault at the expense of Jason Zucker, Letang reduced the gap to just one goal at 10:57. His long shot surprised the Quebec goalkeeper, who never moved on the sequence.
Marcus Pettersson reached the post after a fine individual effort with about four minutes left in the second period.
Guentzel eventually tied the game with 1:55 left in the second period, hitting the mark on the power play. Another powerful one-timer from Malkin deflected off the shaft of his stick before shaking the strings.
However, Richard restarted the Canadian early in the third period and Montembeault took care of the rest. Anderson finished the Penguins by scoring in an empty net with 34.6 seconds left on the clock.