The Montreal Canadiens came into Mellon Arena last night on a bit of hot streak, going undefeated in their last 4 games.
Their goaltender Carey Price also had been rolling of late, with a 4-1-1 record and a 2.11 GAA in his last 6 starts.
And all of this despite the fact that the team has lately been ravaged by injuries to key players (and otherwise), much like the Penguins. Last night, they were missing Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, and Andre Markov, among others.
Well, fate caught up to Montreal and Price last night.
The Penguins took advantage of the Canadiens and their goaltender -- and the fact that the contest was the Habs' 4th in the last 6 nights, including the 2nd half of a back-to-back -- to the tune of a 3-1 victory.
For Pittsburgh, they continued their own little streak, as the victory represented their 5th win in their last 6 games.
It was obvious Montreal didn't have a lot in the tank, as they only launched 19 shots at Pens' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury -- 18 of which he stopped -- and fell behind 3-0 to the Penguins before they made a dent on the scoreboard.
Sidney Crosby got the Pens' first tally and his 12th of the season when he wired a laser wrist shot top corner glove side on Price from the top of the left wing circle about half way through the first period.
I think he surprised Price because Sid isn't known for ripping those from there.
Guerin got the Pens' 2nd goal more than 6 minutes into the 2nd period when Evgeni Malkin drew 2 Canadiens' players to him, slipped the puck to Billy around the goal line, and #13 drove to the net and stuffed the rebound of his own shot past Price.
Crosby was front-and-center again on the Pens' 3rd goal, later that period, when he led a rush that actually was 3-on-4, but with everyone's eyes on him driving down the near boards -- and trying to catch Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke steamrolling to the net -- Crosby threw a spin-o-rama backhand pass to trailer Sergei Gonchar.
Gonchar basically broke down the slot alone, deked Price, and slipped a backhander past him for the 3-0 advantage.
Max Pacioretty broke Fleury's shutout bid with a nice shot on a 3-on-2 with about 12 minutes to go, but that's as close as the Habs' got.
At 17-8, the Pens' are tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals for 2nd overall in the NHL standings, 2 points behind the San Jose Sharks.
Pittsburgh leads the Atlantic by 3 points over the New Jersey Devils.
The Pens' next game is Friday afternoon on Long Island against the Islanders. It's possible we may see defenseman Kris Letang and/or RW Tyler Kennedy return in that one.
Prior to that, though, everyone can sit back and enjoy a Thanksgiving Feast today on FSN Pittsburgh.
FSN is replaying 5 games from the Pens' Stanley Cup run last season all day today.
They are showing game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers, game 7 against the Washington Capitals, and games 4, 6 and 7 against the Detroit Red Wings.
I'll take that over Thanksgiving football anytime.
Happy Turkey Day everyone.
More over the weekend.
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