MONTREAL (AP) — Lars Eller had two goals against his former team, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 on Monday night.
Kris Letang, Kevin Hayes and Rickard Rakell also scored for Pittsburgh, and Tristan Jarry stopped 24 shots.
Sidney Crosby was held off the scoresheet, keeping him one point shy of 1,600. The 37-year-old is looking to become just the 10th player in NHL history to reach the mark.
Kaiden Guhle, Juraj Slafkovsky and Emil Heineman scired for Montreal. Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson each had two assists and Sam Montembeault made 26 saves.
Takeaways
Penguins: Eller converted both goals — his first points of the season — with wicked wrist shots. The 35-year-old from Denmark played for the Canadiens from 2010-16.
Canadiens: With Slafkovsky’s first of the season, the Canadiens scored a power-play goal for the fourth consecutive game. Rookie Lane Hutson didn’t produce a point, but fans cheered every time he touched the puck and the buzz only grew louder with every play, including a slick deke around Crosby late in the second period.
Key moment
Hayes put the Penguins ahead 4-3 with 12:13 remaining in the game. The 32-year-old forward was all alone in front before burying a rebound past Montembeault. Letang doubled the lead four minutes later.
Key stat
15:30 — that’s how long it took for the Canadiens to register their first shot on goal. Fans cheered sarcastically two minutes earlier when Jake Evans sent a dump-in toward the net, but the Canadiens weren’t credited with a shot.
Up Next
Penguins host Buffalo on Wednesday night to open a two-game homestand, and Canadiens host Los Angeles on Thursday to wrap up a three-game stretch at home.
___
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
