PITTSBURGH — The milestones were many on Tuesday night against Montreal.
Kris Letang provided a primary assist on Evan Rodrigues’ power play goal to tally his 600th career point. With a pair of assists, Sidney Crosby became the 14th player to record 400 multipoint games. And, hey, let’s give Brian Dumoulin a shoutout. He scored his first goal of the season.
But during a 5-2 victory, the most-important number? Two critical points in the standings.
While the final result was ultimately somewhat lopsided, the game featured several nervous moments because of an imperfect effort from the Penguins, especially during the first two periods.
See, at least on paper, Tuesday could have been viewed as a mismatch. Since Nov. 18, the Penguins have gone 10-2-1 and racked up 21 points, making them among the NHL’s hottest teams. With a win on Tuesday, they've now matched a season-high five-game winning streak. Montreal, meanwhile, is one of the NHL’s worst teams, sitting in the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with just 15 points all season.
The play on the ice was much closer than the separation in the standings.
The Penguins took an early 1-0 lead on a whacky, ping-pong play. Letang rifled a shot from the point. Montreal defenseman Jeff Petry’s clearing attempt hit Rodrigues in the boot and floated toward the goal. Kasperi Kapanen, more or less, bunted it out of mid-air with the shaft of his stick and into the net.
Then, during an eventful second period, the Penguins and Canadiens each scored a pair of goals. The middle period could have been where the Penguins separated themselves. However, lapses immediately after goals and at the end of the period proved costly.
On the power play, Rodrigues ripped an absolute rocket from the left dot to move into second place on the team scoring log with nine goals. Letang slid the puck over to tee up Rodrigues and record his 600th career point.
However, just 14 seconds later, Jonathan Drouin took advantage of a defensive breakdown in which Mike Matheson turned the puck over in the corner to get the goal right back. On a number of instances this season, the Penguins have allowed response goals or multiple goals in short succession. This time, it robbed them of momentum and the two-goal lead.
Matheson redeemed himself later in the second period. The Penguins hemmed in the Canadiens for an extended shift. They were able to change half the line, while Montreal labored with many tired players on the ice. Eventually, Crosby made a beautiful pass diagonally from below the goal line to find Matheson atop the left circle.
But with just three seconds left in the second period, the Canadiens cut the Penguins’ lead to 3-2. Pittsburgh had chances to clear but failed to do so. Jesse Ylonen’s shot eventually beat Tristan Jarry through traffic.
The late goal could have created positive momentum for Montreal. Instead, the Penguins scored early to set the tone for what would be their strongest period.
Crosby assisted on Dumoulin's goal just 28 seconds into the third period to extend the Penguins' lead to 4-2. Then, Brian Boyle provided some insurance midway through the third with his third goal of the season.
Finding ways to win, even semi-ugly, will be critical for the Penguins going forward. The next four games include one against Buffalo, two against New Jersey and one against Philadelphia. All three clubs are either out of playoff contention or in different states of disarray. The Devils are in perpetual rebuild mode. The Flyers recently fired their coach. And the bottom fell out on the Sabres after a strong start to the season.
But if the Penguins can continue to collect points as they did Tuesday, they will remain in playoff position and, perhaps, rack up a few more milestones in the process.
