Penguins Game 13, It’s Go Time: Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Canadiens

The Pittsburgh Penguins (4-7-1) finally got their feel-good win of the season Thursday when they rallied to beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in overtime, largely on the strength of a highly motivated Sidney Crosby and new linemate Evgeni Malkin.

The new high-powered line and snapping a six-game winless streak boosted morale, and they’ll need it against a plucky Montreal Canadiens (4-6-1) Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.

The puck drops just after 7:00 p.m.

“When you go through a skid as we went through, it’s not an easy experience for any of us … we played a complete game on both sides of the puck (Thursday). The only blemish was the high-quality looks in the last five minutes of the game,” coach Mike Sullivan said Saturday. “I think we need to be more diligent, but other than that, it was one of our more complete games all year, so I think that’s something to feel good about.”

The Penguins have scuffled with their game and have struggled to stop opponents this season. Mistakes, compounding mistakes, and some lineup incongruencies have made the Penguins the worst defensive team in the NHL. They have given up the most scoring chances (307) and high-danger chances (148) in the league. The second-worst team in giving up high-danger chances is the aforementioned Canadiens, who have given up 21 fewer.

In short, the Penguins are the worst by a large margin.

However, things began to change Thursday against the road-worn Anaheim, which played its fourth game in six nights. The Penguins limited their mistakes but also got a big assist from goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who may have stolen a win with at least a half-dozen 10-bell saves, including a trio in the final minutes.

Crosby scored his second goal of the season in the first two minutes of the third period, then stole the puck for a breakaway overtime winner.

The Penguins line of Malkin-Crosby-Rickard Rakell was dominant. At even strength, they had 35 shot attempts, 21 shots on goal, and 17 scoring chances. The output was more than half of the team’s even-strength output.

Read More: Malkin-Crosby Brilliance Puts Dubas on the Spot; Will He Respond This Time?

The Canadiens have lost two in a row, giving up 14 goals in the process. Goalie Sam Montembeault said the team was “embarrassed” by an 8-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. They followed up the loss with a 6-3 defeat against the Washington Capitals.

Montreal is getting exceptional production from Cole Caufield, who has 10 goals in the first 11 games. Nick Suzuki leads the team with 13 points (4-9-13).

The Penguins made another change of note at practice on Friday. It mirrored the in-game tweak on Thursday, as Matt Grzelcyk ran the top power-play unit and Kris Letang ran the second. Sullivan said while the units had scored goals, the process was faltering, and they needed to spark change.

Pittsburgh Penguins Lines

Evgeni Malkin-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell

Drew O’Connor-Lars Eller-Valtteri Puustinen

Michael Bunting-Cody Glass-Noel Acciari

Kevin Hayes-Blake Lizotte-Anthony dBeauvillier

Defense

Matt Grzelcyk-Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves-Jack St. Ivany

Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic

Canadiens Lines, Via Montreal Hockey Now

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Emil Heineman

Alex Newhook-Kirby Dach-Juraj Slafkovsky

Brendan Gallagher-Jake Evans-Josh Anderson

Joel Armia-Christian Dvorak-Oliver Kapanen

Defense

Mike Matheson-Kaiden Guhle

Lane Hutson-David Savard

Jayden Struble-Justin Barron

Goalie: Sam Montembeault, Cayden Primeau

Special Teams

Penguins Power Play: 20.6%, 13th. Penguins Penalty Kill: 85.7%, 6th.

Canadiens Power Play: 22%, 11th. Canadiens Penalty Kill: 83.3%, 8th.

Penguins Game Notes

*The Penguins have points in 17 of the last 21 games against Montreal (14-4-3).

*Sidney Crosby has five points (2-3-5) in his last two games.

How to Watch