PITTSBURGH — Saturday night, a Penguins game was stolen by a masked man once again.
This time, it was the Montreal Canadiens who were backstopped by an unflappable goalie, as Jake Allen outdueled Casey DeSmith to hand the Penguins a 6-3 loss at PPG Paints Arena. The loss snapped the Penguins’ five-game winning streak.
The finest of Allen’s 47 saves came in the third period when he robbed Evan Rodrigues with his glove to put Rodrigues in disbelief and keep the Canadiens on top.
Down at the other end, DeSmith didn’t do much to cease any concern about his play this season. Saturday’s loss was his fourth in as many starts this season.
With Tristan Jarry getting a well-earned breather, DeSmith made his first start in 14 days. Jarry, who led all NHL goalies in minutes played entering Saturday’s game, had started their previous seven games, in part because the Penguins wanted to ride the hot hand, but also because DeSmith had been shaky so far.
Prior to the game, coach Mike Sullivan praised DeSmith for maintaining a positive attitude even though he has mostly been a spectator throughout November.
“I think Casey’s done a real good job. His work habits in practice have been great. And he’s doing his very best to stay ready so that when he does get the tap on the shoulder, [he’s put] himself in the position to be successful,” Sullivan said.
How important was this start for DeSmith? Andy Chiodo, the first-year goalie coach, pulled up a chair in the first row of the press box to watch his every move during pregame warmups. Once DeSmith got hit with one last piece of rubber and left the ice, Chiodo swiveled out of his seat and headed down to talk to him.
Jarry, who in the eyes of his head coach is “playing his best hockey as a Pittsburgh Penguin,” had three shutouts in the previous five games to jump into the top five in the league in both goals-against average and save percentage. In his latest, Jarry made 25 saves in Friday’s 1-0 win against the Islanders in New York.
As exceptional as Jarry has been, the guys in front of him deserve praise, too.
Their forecheck and 200-foot puck pursuit has made the opposition work hard just to get across the center red line. Their defensemen are challenging puck-carriers at the blue line. Their breakouts have been clean and quick. And they have defended hard inside their zone when opponents did pin them in down there.
“It boils down to details,” Sullivan said prior to Friday’s win in New York. “It’s about knowing what your responsibilities are and then going out and executing. I think our collective effort and commitment to defending has been really strong.”
The Penguins went all-out for DeSmith in Saturday’s first period. They allowed just one shot during an early four-minute power play. At one point, Kasperi Kapanen busted back to break up an odd-man rush with a stick-check. Later in the period, Marcus Pettersson sprawled to swat away Josh Anderson’s breakaway.
The game was still scoreless midway through the second period when the Penguins threatened to break the tie with a prolonged push in the offensive end.
Rodrigues, filling in for the injured Bryan Rust on the top line, tried to fool Allen with a spinning shot. Then, with the goalie down in his crease and seemingly practicing yoga poses, Sidney Crosby flipped the puck over the crossbar.
The Penguins kept the heat on after another line hopped over the boards. But they couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities. The Canadiens needed just one.
Crosby flipped a pass across the offensive zone to Kris Letang, but the puck hopped over Letang’s stick and careened into the neutral zone. The defenseman couldn’t catch Jonathan Drouin, who barged in on a breakaway. With a slick deke, Drouin got DeSmith to open his five-hole wide. He hit the spot to make it 1-0.
Moments later, Montreal’s Mattias Norlinder kept out a goal after Dominik Simon’s shot squeaked under Allen’s arm and nearly skittered across the goal line.
Early in the third period, the Penguins finally scored on their 36th shot of the game. Rodrigues ripped a shot past Allen on the power play to tie up the score.
But Christian Dvorak, let all alone in front of DeSmith, restored the Canadiens lead just 32 seconds later. Sami Niku’s pass sneaked through Letang to Dvorak.
Before the game, Sullivan said the Penguins believed they would get timely saves from DeSmith, just like they had from Jarry. But DeSmith couldn’t deliver.
Moments later, down at the other end, Allen absolutely stoned Rodrigues on the doorstep to keep Montreal on top. A rebound of Crosby’s shot kicked right out to Rodrigues, who was left looking at the heavens after Allen gloved it down.
Soon, David Savard would whack in a bouncing puck to push the lead to 3-1.
For DeSmith, who made 27 saves, Saturday was just his second start in November. He lost all three of his previous starts, giving up 14 total goals. He hasn’t won since April 24, giving up three or more in nine of his last 10 back to 2020-21.
Jeff Carter and Crosby scored late goals to make the game interesting. But the Canadiens also got a trio of empty-netters to leave Pittsburgh with the win.
The Penguins entered Saturday night on a season-high five-game winning streak, having outscored their opponents by a 16-2 margin. That torrid stretch started Nov. 18, when the Penguins pounded the Canadiens, 6-0, in Montreal.
The Penguins will now hit the road for a four-game road trip to Western Canada and Seattle. The first game of that 10-day trip will be Monday in Calgary.
