The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in front of the loud and vibrant Montreal faithful at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the third period and tried their best to dig out of it but came up one goal short. Here are the highlights:
The Penguins did well with the puck early in the game but at the midway point in the 2nd period the Canadiens started to take over. Their puck control picked up where it left off to start the third period and the Canadiens were able to register two goals because of it.
Here is the chart:
Max Pacioretty and Carey Price combined to put the Canadiens over the top in Saturday night’s game. Pacioretty scored two goals and Carey Price made a lot of saves look easy throughout the evening.
Pacioretty’s first goal was one that both Olli Maatta and Marc Andre Fleury would probably like to have back. Maatta made a blind pass through the middle of the ice which Pacioretty intercepted. Pacioretty wasted no time taking a snap shot and putting the puck exactly where he wanted to. It was a nice shot but it was from the high slot, in the middle of the ice, and without a screen. Fleury has to find a way to get a piece of that puck.
Pacioretty’s 2nd goal of the night to make it 3-0 was a terrifically skilled play to free him up to take the shot.
Carey Price was able to keep the Penguins off the scoreboard until late in the third period. by that time the Canadiens had already built up a healthy 3-0 lead. There were many sequences early on in the game in which the Penguins could have gotten on the board. Price was sharp and the Penguins came up empty.
Matt Niskanen gets full marks from me for how he played the 2 on 1 that resulted in a horrible offensive blue line turnover by Jussi Jokinen. Niskanen was able to take the option of pass away without allowing the shooter to improve his angle. Fleury was left with a much easier shot to take care of. Job well done.
With Beau Bennett already out of action with what is believed to be a long term wrist injury, the Penguins lost another forward when Tanner Glass left the game after blocking a shot. The combination of Matt D’Agostini being ineffective, Bennett being out, and Glass
potentially out could cause the Penguins to call up Megnatron again.
Also, Chuck Kobasew is nearing a return. Either way D’Agostini’s time in Pittsburgh is probably closer to ending based on his play so far.
Evgeni Malkin took it upon himself to generate offense in the third period and that is indeed what happened. Malkin was the primary contributor for both of James Neal’s goals last night. With each passing game we see Malkin becoming more aggressive and forceful when he has the puck. This is a pretty good sign.
On the flip side we saw Sidney Crosby defer on prime scoring opportunities last night. Crosby needs to shoot in those situations. Crosby and Malkin’s decisions to shoot on goal remind me of a past Seinfeld episode called The Opposite. When things started looking up for George the opposite was happening to Elaine. One of these weeks we are going to see Crosby and Malkin both play on top of their games for extended periods of time.
James Neal scored twice but his team’s record when he scores 2 goals in a game has fallen to 17-2-3.
One positive to take from the game is that the Penguins penalty kill is still doing a great job. They are now the 2nd ranked power play in the league (87.1%) only the Canucks (89.2%) are better. Pittsburgh has not allowed a power play goal in 6 games. The last time the opposition was able to score on the man advantage was Brayden Schenn's game winner for the Flyers on November 13th.
The Penguins will have a day to prepare and then they head off to face the very good Boston Bruins squad.
Thanks for reading!
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