Penguins Self-Destruct in 6-4 Loss to Montreal

The Pittsburgh Penguins earned seven points during the five-game homestand that ended Tuesday night.

It’s the three that got away from them, however, that they figure to remember most.

Relinquishing one to the New York Islanders last Thursday, when the Penguins surrendered a two-goal lead in the final six minutes of regulation before losing in overtime, stung.

Handing over two to Montreal in the finale of the homestand, a 6-4 Canadiens victory, had to hurt even worse.

Not only were the Canadiens, whose injured list could be mistaken for a roster, coming off an 8-4 loss to Colorado at the Bell Centre the night before, but they spotted the Penguins a two-goal lead in the first five minutes of play,

That, however, was not enough for the Penguins, who had a 42-21 edge in shots, to avoid being swept in the season series by Montreal, which is marooned near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

“I thought we worked hard throughout the game,” Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t always work smart.”

In addition to the two points, the Penguins lost two defensemen, Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, in the third period.

It is not known what Petry’s issue was, while Rutta appeared to be struck on the inside of the left knee by a shot.

Sullivan said he did not have an update on either, that they still were being evaluated.

During the early minutes of play, Montreal looked very much like a bottom-feeding team that had been beaten soundly 24 hours earlier, had to travel after that defeat and was relying on a lineup that has been gutted by injuries.

Which, of course, the Canadiens were.

So it really wasn’t all that surprising when Jake Guentzel swiped a Bryan Rust rebound past Montreal goalie Samuel Montembeault just 21 seconds after the opening faceoff for his 28th goal of the season and 400th point in the NHL.

It also was less than shocking when Evgeni Malkin scored from above the right dot at 4:49, 40 seconds after Canadiens winger Josh Anderson was penalized for interference.

At that point, the only suspense figured to be precisely how long it would take the Penguins to get to double-figures, but the game turned in Montreal’s favor almost immediately.

The Penguins have made a habit of giving up quality scoring chances on the shift following one of their goals for much of this season, and they did it twice in the opening period.

Shortly after Guentzel’s goal, Tristan Jarry had to deny Denis Gurianov when he was allowed to break down the slot unimpeded.

Jarry wasn’t so fortunate in the wake of Malkin pushing the lead to 2-0, as Montreal’s Mike Hoffman beat him on the short side from the left hash just 32 seconds later.

And things deteriorated from there for the Penguins. A lot.

Jesse Ylonen put a shot from above the left hash through traffic and into the net at 7:13 and Gurianov moved the Canadiens in front, 3-2, with a backhander from a few feet in front of the crease at 11:31.

Having their lead dissolve into a deficit so quickly was bad enough for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but things got even worse with 11 seconds to go before the intermission, as Joel Edmundson beat Jarry from the blue line to give the Canadiens a two-goal advantage.

It was the second time in eight days the Penguins were scorched for four unanswered goals by a team that’s been all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. (Remember Columbus?)

Casey DeSmith replaced Jarry, who stopped just three of seven shots, for the start of the second period, and made a good skate save on Jonathan Drouin about 90 seconds after play resumed.

Montembeault preserved the Canadiens’ two-goal lead with an excellent stop on Jason Zucker, who had burst between the Montreal defense, at 10:38, but Kris Letang got the Penguins back within a goal 19 seconds later on a wrist shot from the high slot.

The goal, Letang’s 10th, netted assists for Marcus Pettersson and Rickard Rakell.

Guentzel made it 4-4 at 18:05, when he set up at the right side of the crease and deflected a Malkin shot past Montembeault. Guentzel’s second of the game came just six seconds after Montreal defenseman Justin Barron was called for high-sticking.

Anthony Richard scored what proved to be the game-winner at 3:05 of the third period, when he got behind Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph, pulled in a long pass from Barron and beat DeSmith from inside the right dot.

Josh Anderson sealed the victory by scoring into an empty net with 34.6 seconds to go.

Shortly after the game, the Pittsburgh Penguins called off the practice that had been scheduled for Wednesday at noon at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. They will, however, travel to New York Wednesday afternoon for games against the Rangers Thursday and Saturday.