The Penguins third line of Beau Bennett, Brandon Sutter, and Steve Downie had six goals on the season coming into Tuesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. In the first 16 minutes of the game, they added three more. Marc-Andre Fleury took it from there, and the Penguins shut out the Canadiens, 4-0.
Bennett got the scoring started with an unassisted goal 7:46 into the first period. He intercepted a Nathan Beaulieu clearing attempt and took the shot himself on a 2-on-1 with Downie. It was Bennett’s first goal of the season.
“We were in a neutral-zone forecheck, waiting for him to [pass from defenseman to defensman], and he chose to pass to his forward through the middle … luckily I was in the right spot.” Bennett said of the play.
Just two minutes later, a pair of highlight reel passes left Downie with a tap-in to stretch the lead to 2-0. Bennett, with two defenders on him in the high slot, found Kris Letang streaking in from the right point. Sutter crashed the Candiens net, Letang faked a shot to draw out Montreal goaltender Carey Price, and his cross-ice pass found the mark to a waiting Downie at the far post.
Just 00:58 into the second period, Sutter tallied a goal of his own. Bennett carried the puck down the right wing boards, and Downie took two defenders to the front of the net, leaving the late-trailing Sutter wide open in the high slot. He took Bennett’s pass and put it off the post and in to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.
All three players finished with plus-3 ratings, and supplemented their offense with strong play in the defensive zone.
“That’s got to be our staple going forward,” Sutter said, “Our defensive play is going to lead to our offense and tonight we were fortunate to get a few.”
Sidney Crosby added a power play goal in the final minute of second period. Evgeni Malkin kicked Patric Hornqvist’s rebound to Crosby, who was alone at the side of the cage. It was Crosby’s first goal in eight games, and he regained a share of the league’s point-scoring race with Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek.
Staked to a four-goal lead, Marc-Andre Fleury did the rest of the work as he stopped all 27 shots faced, including 14 in the final period. The Penguins defense helped to shut the door by blocking 25 Montreal shots.
The shutout was Fleury’s league-best fourth of the season. His save percentage climbed to .930, by far a career high, and moved him into the top five in the league in that category. His next win will be his 300th in the NHL, all of which have been with Pittsburgh.
“It’s nice,” Fleury said of earning the shutout in his hometown. “Montreal hasn’t been my best city [to play in], so it’s nice to get it for sure.”
Photo credit: Francois Lacasse/NHL
