Sorry for my absence the last several days boys and girls. Even though the Penguins haven't played since Saturday night, you would have heard from me, but I've been preoccupied the last few days after my daughter had surgery. No worries. She's doing well. And, with her in a better place -- and the Penguins back in action again against Montreal last night -- it's time to return to the pulpit.
The Canadiens are, in my opinion, the most storied franchise in the history of the National Hockey League.
24 Stanley Cups tends to give you that status, you know?
The Pens' have been playing Montreal for a lot of years -- and have been on the negative end of a majority of those contests -- but last night at the Mellon Arena, the Penguins faceplanted the Canadiens to a 6-1 tune never before seen in the 43 seasons Pittsburgh has been in the National Hockey League.
That's right, the Penguins have never in their franchise's history defeated the Candiens by 5 goals.
Montreal had no chance last night, thanks largely to Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz.
3 years to the day of his first National Hockey League hat trick in Philadelphia against the hated Flyers, Crosby rang up his third career regular season HT last night, chasing Montreal netminder Jaroslav Halak to the bench at the end of the 2nd period after his third tally.
Kunitz had a career-high 4 points last night as well, with an assist on every Crosby goal, AND -- finally -- a goal of his own with 3 minutes left in the game when he beat the Habs' Carey Price on a breakaway.
Marc-Andre Fleury had 23 saves on 24 shots for the victory -- his ninth this season.
Crosby's first goal was a nice short-side shot, but the play was made possible mostly by his linemates.
At about the 8-9 ,minute mark of the first frame, Kunitz broke up a clearing attempt at the Montreal blueline. As the puck popped up into the air and he was surrounded by 3 Canadien players, Kunitz won the puck battle and got the biscuit to Guerin, who immediatley found Crosby alone to Halak's left. #87's one timer didn't miss.
Crosby's second goal later that period was more artistic, as he picked up a rebound off a Kunitz shot, corralled the puck, spun around, and dug under the rubber to lift a backhander over a bewildered Halak.
After a rebound goal by Mike Rupp in the second period but Pittsburgh up by 3, Crosby struck again when Kunitz stole the puck and found him alone in front. Sid's nice backhand/forehand move was initially stopped by Halak, but the puck caromed off Crosby into the net, and the hats immediately began raining down on Igloo ice.
While Thomas Plekanec got Montreal to within 4-1 early in the 3rd period, Alex Goligoski then scored a power play goal on a wrist shot from the point to restore Pittsburgh's 4 goal lead. After that, Kunitz finished the scoring for the night with his breakaway tally.
True to form, the Penguins unleashed 37 shots on Halak and Price last night. They had no chance of keeping Montreal's 4-game winning streak in-tact.
With the victory, the Penguins tied Colorado for the most wins in the league with 10. Pittsburgh remains 2 points back of the continually-surprising Avalanche in the NHL's overall standings, however. The Avs have 22 points on a 10-1-2 record, while Pittsburgh has 20 with a 10-2 mark, and extended their franchise-best win record for October.
The Pens' have a chance to add to that in their next two games -- Friday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets, and Saturday night back at home on Halloween against the Minnesota Wild.
The Penguins did gain ground over the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils in the Atlantic Division last night, as both clubs lost. The New York Islanders knocked down the Rangers, and the Buffalo Sabres defeated New Jersey.
NOTES:
The Penguins played without Tyler Kennedy last night, who missed the contest with an undisclosed, day-to-day injury. Craig Adams took his spot on the 3rd line, while Pascal Dupuis -- who had missed the prior 2 days of practice becasue of flu-like sympoms -- played on the 4th line. Chris Bourque got in the lineup because of Kennedy's absence and played a fairly regular shift on the 2nd line with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko. He picked up a helper on Kuntiz's goal.
With 9 markers on the season, Crosby is 4th in the league in goal-scoring, behind Alexander Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, and Marion Gaborik in New York.
Surprisingly, after nearly a month of the year, Crosby only has 5 assists thusfar in the regular season. He's continued to take the role of goal-scorer on his line.
Alex Goligoski continued his outstanding season so far. He now has 11 points in 12 games, and is tied for the league in plus-minus at +11 with Ovechkin.
More this weekend.
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