After encouraging performances despite results that were slow to come, the Canadian returned to square one on Thursday night at the Bell Center.
Sidney Crosby scored early in the game, Tristan Jarry turned back 24 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-0.
Two teams in the heart of streaks of three setbacks clashed, but only the Canadian looked like a drifting formation.
The Habs once again seemed disorganized for most of the evening and paid dearly for their many mistakes.
“No one shows up at the office and hopes they have a bad day. Nobody shows up at the arena and hopes to have a bad game. Tonight, we were just bad, admitted Canadian head coach Dominique Ducharme. I can try to dissect all facets of the game, we were bad. “
The Canadian (4-13-2) suffered a fourth straight loss (0-3-1). He has only one victory in his last eight games (1-5-2).
“If we look at about the last six games, we were better, but some mistakes hurt us,” Ducharme said. Tonight is definitely not the kind of game we want to play. It was in all situations, both offensively and defensively, coming back to our zone or attacking, with the puck or without the puck.
“We have to go back to what we were doing better lately. “
Cayden Primeau allowed five goals on 31 shots in the first 40 minutes of play. Samuel Montembeault took over in the third period in goal for the Canadiens 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.
Cloakroom echoes
Ben Chiarot didn’t last long when he was reminded that the Canadiens have now allowed at least five goals in eight of his 19 games this season.
“When you allow that many goals, there are probably several things that don’t work. “
Mattias Norlinder was one of three players for the Canadiens who did not finish the game with a negative differential, along with his playing partner David Savard and forward Joel Armia.
“I think I can make more plays, take more responsibility with the puck and carry it to the front more often. But it was only my first game, I didn’t want to force things too much. “
Cole Caufield was happy to have generated a few chances on offense.
“I had good legs and the team had energy. But we have to put in a full effort for 60 minutes. We have seen the consequences when we don’t do it. “