Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin scored in the shootout as
the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Saturday night.
Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist, and Brendan
Gallagher had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Antti Niemi stopped 25
shots through overtime in his first start of the season.
Dominik Simon, Kris Letang and Phil Kessel scored in
regulation for the Penguins, and Casey DeSmith had 37 saves through overtime.
After Byron and Drouin both beat DeSmith blocker side in
the shootout, Sidney Crosby had to score for Pittsburgh to send it to the third
round but he hit the outside of the post.
The Canadiens beat the Penguins for the second time in
eight days, winning 5-1 in Pittsburgh last Saturday.
Simon and Letang scored in the first period to give the
Penguins a 2-0 lead. Daniel Sprong fed Simon in front of the goal with a
one-handed scoop pass and the 24-year-old beat Niemi on the backhand at 3:13.
Letang doubled Pittsburgh’s lead with 4:44 left with a shot on Niemi’s blocker
side.
The Canadiens came out buzzing in the second period,
scoring three straight goals before Kessel tied it again. Montreal outshot
Pittsburgh 19-4 in the second.
Just 11 seconds into the middle period, Tatar beat Letang
to a loose puck in front of the net, and then fired past DeSmith for his first
in a Canadiens uniform.
Gallagher tied it 2-2 at 7:38 after jumping on a rebound
of Jeff Petry’s point shot.
Tatar got his second of the game, on the power play, by
firing the puck off DeSmith and in from the side of the net at 8:51 to push
Montreal ahead.
With the Pens on a man advantage, Kessel made it 3-3 from
the slot at 11:14.
Montreal failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play that
lasted 1:49 to end the second period.
It looked like the Canadiens had taken a 4-3 lead in the
third period when defenseman Victor Mete put the puck past DeSmith, but the
goal was called back for goaltender interference on Andrew Shaw after a
challenge by Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.
GAME NOTES
Montreal also had a goal overturned in its previous, also
due to goalie interference against Shaw, in its 3-0 loss to Los Angeles. …
Pittsburgh D Justin Schultz left the game in the first period and did not
return. Schultz’s leg folded awkwardly as fell to the ice after taking a hit by
Tomas Plekanec, who was making his 999th career start.
UP NEXT
PENGUINS:
Host Vancouver on Tuesday night.
CANADIENS:
Host Detroit on Monday night.
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