The Montreal Canadiens came into Pittsburgh riding a red-hot Carey Price to a five-game winning streak. The Penguins did very little too cool off Price as he shut down the Penguins offense and the Canadiens put four past Marc-Andre Fleury to win 4-1 at Consol Energy Center on Saturday.
“We didn’t generate that many chances, and when you face a goalie that good, you don’t give yourself a chance to win the game,” said Penguins defenseman Kris Letang.
Montreal’s Max Pacioretty started out the game scoring on a snap shot just 2:30 in the first period. It was followed by another Canadiens goal from David Desharnais just four minutes later.
David Perron was the lone bright spot for the Penguins, as he scored on a wrist shot in his first game as a Penguin. Sidney Crosby and Steve Downie assisted.
“David had good poise with the puck tonight,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “He had a quick release shot on the goal. Good night for him,”
In the final two periods, the Canadiens added to their lead while Price held the Pens out. Tom Gilbert scored on a wrist shot early in the second period. The night’s scoring was finished with Montreal scoring its fourth and final goal, by Alexei Emelin. Price finished with 30 saves.
“I didn’t think our execution was very sharp … we didn’t have a lot of support and speed to our game” said Johnston as he summed up the night.
The Penguins did manage to kill off all four of Montreal’s power plays.
The Penguins will get a three-day break, playing their next game against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.
Photo credit: NHL
