Canadiens Defeat Penguins, 3-2

Sorry for the delay with this post. Caught a 24-hour stomach bug that began violently at 4 AM Sunday. Now that I've gotten that ugliness out of my system ......

If I had told you before the Penguins game against Montreal on Saturday night that the Penguins have alternated wins and losses for pretty much the last 3 weeks -- and that the Penguins had won their last game -- you could pretty much forecast the result.

Continuing their inability to win even 2 games in a row lately, the Penguins stayed true to that form and fell at home to the Canadiens, 3-2.

In all fairness, it would be hard to accuse the Penguins of not coming to play in this one, which is something they've been too guilty of in the last 6 weeks. They outshot Montreal 34-19 and had every chance to win the game, but a soft goal by Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and poor awareness in the defensive zone on the other 2 Canadiens' goals did the Penguins in.

The goal Fleury allowed was a 50-foot slapshot that went between his legs. Although Defenseman Brooks Orpik was in the path of the shot and may have provided a little screen, he was out close to the shooter -- Montreal forward Andrei Kostitsyn, who tallied all 3 Canadien goals -- and that shouldn't have been enough to keep Fleury from stopping the shot.

One of Kostitsyn's other goals was the result of ALL FIVE Penguin players watching the puck-carrier behind the Penguins goal (including 4 on one side of the net) and leaving Kostitsyn wide open in the slot from 10 feet away to score.

Pascal Dupuis and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins. It was Crosby's 2nd goal of the week, after having gone without one in 12 games.

With the loss, the Penguins remain in 7th place in the East. The good news is that, despite how poorly the Penguins have played lately, they still are only 5 points back of the Rangers, who still lead a tight Atlantic Division.

The Penguins are off again until Tuesday when they begin a home-and-home series against the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins. The Penguins will be tested in those games and will need to bring there "A" effort to win.

I'll post a preview of the set tomorrow.