*Photo from PensBurgh*
On a rather unassuming Thursday night in Montreal, it became hunting season for the visitors from the U.S. Sidney Crosby scored, Teddy Blueger scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins stomped the Montreal Canadiens with a 6-0 shutout win on Thursday night.
Crosby scored his first goal of the season, in his 4th game of the season, after spending the start of the season on the NHL's Covid-19 protocol list. He's back, and so far, with his one goal and one assist, is looking to kickstart the Penguins offense.
Crosby said of the convincing win that "We wanted to play like that right from the start. I thought we did a good job of moving our feet, putting pressure on them and getting some early goals there to get a lead. That's a big boost, especially with how many chances we had against Buffalo and not being able to convert some of those. To get the same looks and see them go in, I think that you could tell that gave us a good lift."
The Penguins jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 3:36 into the game thanks to Crosby, who got his first goal on assists by Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel. On the power play 12:38 into the period, Danton Heinen scored his 5th goal of the season, doubling the Penguins lead to 2-0. With 48 seconds left in the opening period, Guentzel scored his 6th goal of the season to make it 3-0 in favor of the Penguins, assisted by Rust and Kris Letang.
Pittsburgh didn't score again until 13:49 into the second period, when Blueger tallied his 4th of the season, increasing the lead to 4-0. Brock McGinn made it a 5-0 lead a few minutes later, scoring 16:12 into the second, his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Mike Matheson and Blueger. With 11 seconds left in the game, Blueger scored his second of the night to make it 6-0 for a final score.
Letang said of the outburst of scoring that "It's great to get everybody going. Points, goals, sometimes you have them and sometimes you don't. But guys were so close to breaking out and it's fun to get rewarded in that regard. When you see guys on the scoresheet, it's a good confidence booster."
Tristan Jarry made the start in net for the Penguins, putting up a perfect tally on the scoresheet, stopping all 24 shots the Canadiens got on goal, a clean 1.000 save percentage for Jarry's first shutout of the season. His record improved to 6-4-3 in 13 starts for the Penguins this season.
On the Montreal side of things, it was nothing but a nightmare. With Jake Allen still injured and Carey Price a bit away from his return, Cayden Primeau made the start. It did not go well. Primeau saved just 26 of the 31 shots the Penguins sent his way, posting a .839 save percentage before being pulled after the second period. Sam Montembeault came on in relief and saved 11 of the 12 shots he faced. Primeau's record now sits at 0-2-0 this season.
Despite the ugly loss, Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot washed it away pretty quickly, saying that "We have a lot of games and a lot of road to go. We have a game a day from now, so park this one and get ready for the next one."
Both teams get back in action on Saturday, with the Penguins travelling east to face the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Jarry likely back in net. The Canadiens square off against the Nashville Predators, with Montembeault to start if Allen still can't go.
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