Penguins 6, Canadiens 4: Brenden Morrow and Brandon Sutter scored two goals apiece as host Pittsburgh coasted past reeling Montreal to extend its winning streak to five games.
Jarome Iginla had a goal and an assist to surpass 1,100 career points and defenseman Douglas Murray scored for the first time in over 28 months as the Penguins sent the Canadiens to their season-worst third straight defeat. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves as Pittsburgh improved to 20-2-0 in its last 22 games.
Captain Brian Gionta, defenseman Andrei Markov and rookies Alex Galchenyuk and Gabriel Dumont scored for Montreal, which has been outscored 18-8 during its skid. The Canadiens fell even in points with Boston atop the Northeast Division after the Bruins' 3-2 shootout loss to Buffalo on Wednesday. Boston is technically in first place based on games played.
Sutter and Morrow scored 2:06 apart before Iginla struck on the power play with 21 seconds left in the first period for a 3-0 lead, ending the night for Canadiens goaltender Peter Budaj. Morrow made it 4-0 at 4:07 of the middle session for his second straight two-goal performance and assisted on Sutter's second goal after Gionta got Montreal on the board.
Galchenyuk scored with 2:25 left in the second and Dumont's first career goal at 4:09 of the third cut the deficit to 5-3, but Murray answered 75 seconds later with his first tally since Dec. 9, 2010. Markov capped the scoring with only 11 seconds left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Canadiens D Ryan White received a five-game suspension for his shoulder-to-chin hit on Philadelphia Flyers D Kent Huskins in Monday's game. ... Iginla became the 58th player in history to reach 1,100 points. ... Budaj made only six saves before he was relieved by Carey Price, who was pulled in the previous two games. Price turned aside 17 of 20 shots.
Montreal | Pittsburgh | |
David Desharnais 2 | Points | Brenden Morrow 3 |
Gabriel Dumont 1 | Goals | Brenden Morrow 2 |
David Desharnais 2 | Assists | Kris Letang 3 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Brandon Sutter 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Carey Price .850 | Save Percentage | Marc-Andre Fleury .886 |
Carey Price 17 | Saves | Marc-Andre Fleury 31 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Montreal | 35 | 4 | 0-3 | 5-7 | 31 | 33 |
Pittsburgh | 29 | 6 | 2-7 | 3-3 | 13 | 28 |