For the fifth straight game, Evgeni Malkin scored a goal and for the fifth straight game, the Pittsburgh Penguins left with a win. Malkin’s one-time blast in the dying minutes of the third period tied the game and his perfectly placed shootout goal was the difference maker as the Penguins defeated the Canadiens 5-4.
Despite being 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, Montreal controlled much of the game and eventually built a 4-2 lead heading into the final period. The Habs failed to hang on, however, as Dustin Jeffrey scored his second goal of the night -and the season- to cut the lead in half. The lead was completely erased on Malkin’s one-timer which perfectly picked the top right corner.
Montreal started the game with a goal just 34 seconds into the first period. PK Subban’s slapshot was kicked out by Marc-Andre Fleury but the rebound found the stick of Lars Eller who unexpectedly knocked the puck back into the net. The Penguins quickly countered on a magnificent play by Kris Letang, who was playing in his second game since experiencing a concussion the last time these two teams met. Letang took the puck at the point, skated down the right side of the ice and beat goaltender, Peter Budaj on the near post, tucking the puck with his backhand.
Montreal retook the lead less than two minutes later on a goal from Erik Cole who finished the game with three points. Andrei Kostitsyn added a powerplay goal 1:09 into the second period to take what looked to be a commanding 3-1 lead.
The Penguins stormed back.
Dustin Jeffrey tipped in a slap pass from Zbynek Michalek to score shorthanded. After a Max Pacioretty goal extended the lead back to two, the Canadiens had a golden opportunity to possibly put the game away for good. Tomas Plekanec received a pass from Travis Moen and skate in on a partial breakaway. As Plekanec released the shot, Fleury went to poke check the puck away. The puck nicked off the right pad of Fleury before bouncing off the cross bar and behind the net.
Dustin Jeffrey struck again, midway through the third period with a wrist shot in between the faceoff circles. With the Penguins still trailing 4-3 and three minutes remaining, James Neal fed a cross-ice pass to Evgeni Malkin whose one-timer scorched past Peter Budaj. The Montreal Canadiens had shut down the Neal-Malkin-Kunitz line all night, implementing Josh Gorges and Hal Gill on defense. With the game in the balance, however, the mid-season MVP still found a way to score and the Penguins forced overtime.
With the game eventually going into a shootout, Malkin’s lone goal clinched the win for Pittsburgh as they recorded two more points and jumped ahead of the New Jersey Devils in the standings. Perhaps the most impressive factor in this win was the fact that the Penguins were able to comeback from a two goal deficit despite playing their third game in four days. It was also the twentieth straight game Marc-Andre Fleury played in and, with the way the team is playing now, it doesn’t appear he’ll be coming out any time soon.
- The Penguins have tomorrow off before hosting the Washington Capitals Sunday on NBC.
- Dustin Jeffrey recorded his first goal since scoring two against the Boston Bruins on March 5th of last season.
- Pittsburgh is 5-2 in shootouts, this season, while Montreal is 1-7.
Photo courtesy of 680news.com
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