Pens @ Montreal Canadiens 5-3 - Thursday, March 15, 2018
Patric Hornqvist had two goals and an assist, and the Pittsburgh Penguins kept pace in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Tristan Jarry made 17 saves for Pittsburgh (41-26-5), which is 5-1-1 in its past seven games. The Penguins are tied for first in the division with the Washington Capitals with 87 points, but Washington owns the tiebreaker because they have played two fewer games.
"We were skating, we were in their face, and the last 50 minutes of this game we were really good," said Hornqvist. "And that's the way we have to be here down the stretch to be successful, and I really like our effort."
Artturi Lehkonen, Paul Byron and Nicolas Deslauriers scored, and Antti Niemi made 34 saves for Montreal (26-33-12), which is 1-4-1 in its past six games. The Canadiens are 16 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Malkin put the Penguins ahead 3-2 on a power play at 10:30 of the second period with a one-timer from the right side for his 40th goal. Sidney Crosby got his 699th NHL assist on the play. Deslauriers tied it at 3-3 at 12:57.
Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 4-3 lead at 12:24 of the third period when he deflected Carl Hagelin's shot past Niemi. The goal was his 400th NHL point.
"He brings the same thing every night and especially in those tight games," Crosby said. "He's a guy who seems to always kind of step up and make those big plays. And it's not always a goal, but subtle plays, winning puck battles and fighting hard in front of the net. So, he's a big part of our team, and he showed it again tonight."
Bryan Rust extended the lead to 5-3 with an empty-net goal at 18:07.
Lehkonen made it 1-0 at 3:15 of the first period when he deflected Jeff Petry's shot from the right point. Byron scored off a rebound on the power play at 6:31 to make it 2-0. Phil Kessel cut it to 2-1 at 10:05 on a one-timer off a 2-on-1 following a turnover by Petry at the blue line.
"We can't sit back on our lead," Deslauriers said. "We knew they have probably one of the best scoring touch in the League. I think we just needed to play more in their (defensive) zone and make them work."
* Hornqvist's goal at 12:24 of the third period.
* Jarry's save on Jacob de la Rose at 13:18 of the third period.* Malkin's goal at 10:30 of the second period.* It was the third time Malkin has scored at least 40 goals in a season in the NHL, and the first since he scored 50 goals in 2011-12. … Hornqvist had a season-high 10 shots on goal.
"I thought we played hard. We didn't start off the way we wanted, but sometimes that can be a great motivator. Our team's capable of coming back from goals, we've done it time and time again, so there was a lot of hockey left to be played and I thought our guys settled into the game and we did a lot of good things out there." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan"We were playing one of the best teams in the League and I think you can see why. It was kind of struggle for us tonight to really create offense. They had the puck a lot and it wasn't for a lack of work effort. They made some plays over there." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen, Paul Byron and Nicolas Deslauriers scored, and Antti Niemi made 34 saves for Montreal (26-33-12), which is 1-4-1 in its past six games. The Canadiens are 16 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 4-3 lead at 12:24 of the third period when he deflected Carl Hagelin's shot past Niemi. The goal was his 400th NHL point.
"He brings the same thing every night and especially in those tight games," Crosby said. "He's a guy who seems to always kind of step up and make those big plays. And it's not always a goal, but subtle plays, winning puck battles and fighting hard in front of the net. So, he's a big part of our team, and he showed it again tonight."
Bryan Rust extended the lead to 5-3 with an empty-net goal at 18:07.
Lehkonen made it 1-0 at 3:15 of the first period when he deflected Jeff Petry's shot from the right point. Byron scored off a rebound on the power play at 6:31 to make it 2-0. Phil Kessel cut it to 2-1 at 10:05 on a one-timer off a 2-on-1 following a turnover by Petry at the blue line.
"We can't sit back on our lead," Deslauriers said. "We knew they have probably one of the best scoring touch in the League. I think we just needed to play more in their (defensive) zone and make them work."
* Hornqvist's goal at 12:24 of the third period.
* Jarry's save on Jacob de la Rose at 13:18 of the third period.* Malkin's goal at 10:30 of the second period.* It was the third time Malkin has scored at least 40 goals in a season in the NHL, and the first since he scored 50 goals in 2011-12. … Hornqvist had a season-high 10 shots on goal.
"I thought we played hard. We didn't start off the way we wanted, but sometimes that can be a great motivator. Our team's capable of coming back from goals, we've done it time and time again, so there was a lot of hockey left to be played and I thought our guys settled into the game and we did a lot of good things out there." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan"We were playing one of the best teams in the League and I think you can see why. It was kind of struggle for us tonight to really create offense. They had the puck a lot and it wasn't for a lack of work effort. They made some plays over there." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher Pens @ NY Islanders 1-4 - Tuesday, March 20, 2018
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost ground for first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-1 loss against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center. Matt Murray made 36 saves for Pittsburgh in his first start since Feb. 23; he missed the previous nine games because of a concussion.
"I felt pretty good," Murray said. "I thought as a team, we could have been a little better more consistently, myself included, but we had our moments. We had a good second period, but they just outplayed us I think overall just a little bit."
Conor Sheary scored for the Penguins (41-27-5), who hold the tiebreaker on the Columbus Blue Jackets for second place in the Metropolitan with one game in hand and four more regulation/overtime wins. Pittsburgh is four points behind the Washington Capitals. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and John Tavares had two assists for the Islanders (31-32-10), who are 10 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Christopher Gibson made 36 saves.
"It's not where we want to be; we're all disappointed in it," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "But we get paid to play every game, and they played today like they wanted to win, they wanted to have that feeling. We just want to keep growing it and try to follow it up."
"Every time we tried to get into a flow, we took another penalty. It's hard to win that way," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We just didn't have nearly the discipline we needed to have to be the team we wanted to be tonight. We beat ourselves."
Jordan Eberle scored into an empty net at 17:31 to make it 4-1.
Barzal gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 5:10 of the first period. Eberle got control of the puck in the left corner and fed Johnny Boychuk at the right point, who sent a slap shot that Barzal redirected for his 20th goal of the season.
"When you creep around 15, 16 (goals), obviously you want to try and get 20," said Barzal, who leads all NHL rookies with 75 points. "I was in no panic or anything; I'm trying to get better and be a more complete player every game. It's nice to hit (20), but I'm just trying to grow as a player."
Adam Pelech made it 2-0 when he took a pass from Tanner Fritz and scored on a slap shot from between the face-off circles at 10:33 of the first period.
"We love to play hockey, and everyone hates losing," Gibson said. "It's big for us to fight until the end here. We're playing for the team and the organization and each other in the dressing room, so it's really important."
* Pelech's goal at 10:33 of the first period.
* Gibson's save on Bryan Rust at 4:26 of the second period. * Kessel's assist was his 80th point (29 goals, 51 assists) of the season. … Barzal's 55 assists are the most by an NHL rookie since Nicklas Backstrom had 55 with the Washington Capitals in 2007-08. … Tavares passed Brent Sutter for fifth on the Islanders' all-time points list (612). … Defenseman Thomas Hickey played his 400th NHL game, all with New York.
"I felt pretty solid considering how much time I missed. I didn't really feel all that rusty. I thought I played pretty well and I felt pretty good for the most part." -- Penguins goalie Matt Murray
"He's an incredible player. He's got an incredible future, and for him to continue what he's done this year is always good to see. I mean, every time he touches the puck, something great happens." -- Islanders forward Anders Lee on Mathew Barzal
Conor Sheary scored for the Penguins (41-27-5), who hold the tiebreaker on the Columbus Blue Jackets for second place in the Metropolitan with one game in hand and four more regulation/overtime wins. Pittsburgh is four points behind the Washington Capitals. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and John Tavares had two assists for the Islanders (31-32-10), who are 10 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Christopher Gibson made 36 saves.
"It's not where we want to be; we're all disappointed in it," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "But we get paid to play every game, and they played today like they wanted to win, they wanted to have that feeling. We just want to keep growing it and try to follow it up."
Jordan Eberle scored into an empty net at 17:31 to make it 4-1.
"When you creep around 15, 16 (goals), obviously you want to try and get 20," said Barzal, who leads all NHL rookies with 75 points. "I was in no panic or anything; I'm trying to get better and be a more complete player every game. It's nice to hit (20), but I'm just trying to grow as a player."
Adam Pelech made it 2-0 when he took a pass from Tanner Fritz and scored on a slap shot from between the face-off circles at 10:33 of the first period.
"We love to play hockey, and everyone hates losing," Gibson said. "It's big for us to fight until the end here. We're playing for the team and the organization and each other in the dressing room, so it's really important."
* Pelech's goal at 10:33 of the first period.
* Gibson's save on Bryan Rust at 4:26 of the second period. * Kessel's assist was his 80th point (29 goals, 51 assists) of the season. … Barzal's 55 assists are the most by an NHL rookie since Nicklas Backstrom had 55 with the Washington Capitals in 2007-08. … Tavares passed Brent Sutter for fifth on the Islanders' all-time points list (612). … Defenseman Thomas Hickey played his 400th NHL game, all with New York.
"I felt pretty solid considering how much time I missed. I didn't really feel all that rusty. I thought I played pretty well and I felt pretty good for the most part." -- Penguins goalie Matt Murray
"He's an incredible player. He's got an incredible future, and for him to continue what he's done this year is always good to see. I mean, every time he touches the puck, something great happens." -- Islanders forward Anders Lee on Mathew Barzal
Montreal Canadiens @ Pens 3-5 - Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Derick Brassard and Jake Guentzel scored third-period goals to help the Pittsburgh Penguins pull within two points of first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena.Brassard gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead with a power-play goal at 2:38. Guentzel set up Brassard for a one-timer he sent past goalie Carey Price's glove for his second goal in 11 games with the Penguins.
"Like I said, maybe after the first or second game I played [with Pittsburgh], it's going to take me a little while," Brassard said. "I'm still maybe not there yet, but I'm just trying to play, play hard and play on the right side of the puck. Trying to make plays. As a team, we've been showing some good flashes, but we're not playing a perfect game out there."
Guentzel, who had three points (one goal, two assists), shot over Price's left shoulder to make it 5-3 at 18:27. Sidney Crosby had an assist for his 700th in the NHL. He is the third active player to reach that mark, behind Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks (1,030) and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks (824).
After the Canadiens erased a 2-0 Penguins lead to go ahead 3-2, Crosby tied it 3-3 by juggling the puck with his stick blade before backhanding a shot out of midair past Price at 15:02 of the second period.
"I was just trying to follow the bouncing puck," Crosby said. "It worked out. It's nice to see one go in. … I don't know if you work on that specifically, but I think you just try to work on getting pucks in and around the net and playing pucks out. There are always loose pucks around the net.
"You try to finish plays out in practice. Sometimes it works where you can do it in a game. Sometimes it doesn't."
Price made 34 saves for Montreal (26-36-12), which was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention with a fourth straight loss, in his return from a concussion that had him out since Feb. 20.
"I felt pretty good," Price said. "Pretty good team to go against and I thought we played a pretty good game tonight. … They got a lot of weapons on the power play and they seem to be able to find the holes. That's what a good power play does."The Penguins were 2-for-3 on the power play.
"There's no doubt you want to stay out of the penalty box," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "At the same time, we have to do a better job. That's been our issue for most of the year. We have chances to clear the puck and we don't. When you're against the power play, it ends up in the back of your net."
Casey DeSmith made 27 saves for Pittsburgh.
Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead in the first period. After Price made the save on a shot by Carl Hagelin, Malkin dove at the rebound before using one hand on his stick to knock the puck past Price to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead with his 41st goal at 9:53. It was upheld after the Canadiens challenged for goaltender interference. Hornqvist made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 17:31 before Jonathan Drouin beat DeSmith with a wrist shot to cut the lead to 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the first. Nikita Scherbak tied it 2-2 with a backhand shot on a shorthanded breakaway at 8:19 of the second period. Jacob de la Rose put the Canadiens ahead 3-2 after Nicolas Deslauriers' shot popped into the air off DeSmith's shoulder. De la Rose followed the rebound and tapped it under DeSmith's glove at 14:24.
* Brassard's goal at 2:38 of the third period.
* DeSmith stopping Brendan Gallagher's penalty shot at 3:14 of the second period.* Highlight - Crosby's goal at 15:02 of the second period.* Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk played after being re-evaluated for an injured hand. He had two shots in 18:46. … Price stopped Brassard on a penalty shot 1:19 into the game. ... The Penguins are the only NHL team this season to have three players with at least 50 assists. Crosby leads Pittsburgh with 55, and Phil Kessel and Malkin have 53 and 50, respectively. The last time the Penguins did that was in 2006-07, when Crosby had 84, Sergei Gonchar had 54, and Malkin had 52.
"There's no safe lead in this game anymore, in today's game. That's what I think. … I thought the first period was really good. The second period, there were some fluky goals. It seemed that way." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"You come to the rink every day with the expectation that you're going to win a hockey game and too many times I think we've left disappointed. It's been tough." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
Guentzel, who had three points (one goal, two assists), shot over Price's left shoulder to make it 5-3 at 18:27. Sidney Crosby had an assist for his 700th in the NHL. He is the third active player to reach that mark, behind Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks (1,030) and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks (824).
"I was just trying to follow the bouncing puck," Crosby said. "It worked out. It's nice to see one go in. … I don't know if you work on that specifically, but I think you just try to work on getting pucks in and around the net and playing pucks out. There are always loose pucks around the net.
"You try to finish plays out in practice. Sometimes it works where you can do it in a game. Sometimes it doesn't."
Price made 34 saves for Montreal (26-36-12), which was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention with a fourth straight loss, in his return from a concussion that had him out since Feb. 20.
"I felt pretty good," Price said. "Pretty good team to go against and I thought we played a pretty good game tonight. … They got a lot of weapons on the power play and they seem to be able to find the holes. That's what a good power play does."The Penguins were 2-for-3 on the power play."There's no doubt you want to stay out of the penalty box," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "At the same time, we have to do a better job. That's been our issue for most of the year. We have chances to clear the puck and we don't. When you're against the power play, it ends up in the back of your net."
Casey DeSmith made 27 saves for Pittsburgh.
Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead in the first period. After Price made the save on a shot by Carl Hagelin, Malkin dove at the rebound before using one hand on his stick to knock the puck past Price to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead with his 41st goal at 9:53. It was upheld after the Canadiens challenged for goaltender interference. Hornqvist made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 17:31 before Jonathan Drouin beat DeSmith with a wrist shot to cut the lead to 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the first. Nikita Scherbak tied it 2-2 with a backhand shot on a shorthanded breakaway at 8:19 of the second period. Jacob de la Rose put the Canadiens ahead 3-2 after Nicolas Deslauriers' shot popped into the air off DeSmith's shoulder. De la Rose followed the rebound and tapped it under DeSmith's glove at 14:24.
* Brassard's goal at 2:38 of the third period.
* DeSmith stopping Brendan Gallagher's penalty shot at 3:14 of the second period.* Highlight - Crosby's goal at 15:02 of the second period.* Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk played after being re-evaluated for an injured hand. He had two shots in 18:46. … Price stopped Brassard on a penalty shot 1:19 into the game. ... The Penguins are the only NHL team this season to have three players with at least 50 assists. Crosby leads Pittsburgh with 55, and Phil Kessel and Malkin have 53 and 50, respectively. The last time the Penguins did that was in 2006-07, when Crosby had 84, Sergei Gonchar had 54, and Malkin had 52.
"There's no safe lead in this game anymore, in today's game. That's what I think. … I thought the first period was really good. The second period, there were some fluky goals. It seemed that way." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan "You come to the rink every day with the expectation that you're going to win a hockey game and too many times I think we've left disappointed. It's been tough." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
New Jersey @ Pens 4-3 OT - Friday, March 23, 2018
Taylor Hall scored 27 seconds into overtime, and the New Jersey Devils extended their lead for an Eastern Conference wild card with a 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Nico Hischier won a defensive-zone battle against Phil Kessel before finding Hall with a stretch pass, which sent him toward Matt Murray on a breakaway, and his wrist shot got through for his 33rd goal of the season.
"You know how much skill they have out there, and you know they're offensive guys and that's how they're going to think," Hall said. "I saw a chance to take off a little bit and get behind them. I was just hoping Nico was going to win his battle and, sure enough, he did."
Keith Kinkaid made 40 saves for New Jersey (38-28-8), which is three points ahead of the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East having played two more games. Murray made 30 saves for Pittsburgh (42-27-6), which moved within three points of the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division and one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for second.
Murray called his performance "average." Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he understood why Murray was critical.
"It's tough to evaluate right after a game like that," Sullivan said. "It's an emotional game. I thought he made some timely saves when the opportunities presented themselves. But certainly, when you don't win, everybody has to take some ownership."
Kinkaid has made 91 saves on 97 shots in three wins against Pittsburgh this season.
The Devils took a 3-1 lead with three straight goals in the second period. Brian Dumoulin and Kessel scored third-period goals for the Penguins. Dumoulin made it 3-2 with a slap shot off a face-off win by Sidney Crosby at 3:13, and Kessel tied it 3-3 wrist shot at 10:52. Kessel has 83 points (30 goals, 53 assists) to surpass his previous NHL career high of 82 (2011-12, Toronto Maple Leafs).
Will Butcher, Blake Coleman and Hischier scored in the first 8:54 of the second period to put the Devils ahead 3-1. Butcher tied it 1-1 at 5:15 with his first goal since Nov. 20 (52 games) and first power-play goal of his rookie season. Coleman gave New Jersey a 2-1 lead at 7:20 by using a one-hand backhand. Hischier made it 3-1 when John Moore passed to him alone in front.
* Hall's goal 27 seconds into overtime.
* Kinkaid's save against Justin Schultz at 16:46 of the third period.
* Coleman's goal at 7:20 of the first period.
* Hall also had two assists to give him 81 points (33 goals, 48 assists), his NHL career high; he had 80 points for the Edmonton Oilers in 2013-14. He is the first Devils player to have 80 points in a season since Ilya Kovalchuk had 83 (37 goals, 46 assists) in 2011-12. … Devils forward Pavel Zacha returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He had one assist in 12:59. … Penguins forward Dominik Simon returned after missing six games with a lower-body injury. He had had two hits in 5:39. … Butcher has three goals this season.
"I think we were excited to play. We were ready. It was just kind of more of a settling into the game and trusting our instincts and getting ready to play. I think our heads and everything were in the right position. It was just a little bit of execution we weren't doing." -- Devils captain Andy Green on responding to a slow start
"We knew we had better [after the second period]. We needed to be more like the first period, and we felt like if we did that, we'd give ourselves a chance to get back in the game. That's what we did. We played with urgency." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"I think it says a lot about Nico that this is his rookie year. He's 19. He's probably doesn't have as much energy as he would like, but he came out tonight and had a great game. He made plays." -- Devils forward Taylor Hall on linemate Nico Hischier
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