The sweep of the NHL focuses on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
David Perron and Sidney Crosby scored in the skills competition on the Habs’ Mike Condon for a 4-3 victory.
Patric Hornqvist scored for the Pens at 13:35 of the third to tie the game at three all and force over time.
“Comebacks are important, especially against a team like Montreal,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “They’re very steady. They just have a straight line as they play the game from start to finish. That’s why they’ve been so good.
“I’m happy about the win, but I didn’t like our second period. I thought that second period stands out to me. We just cannot play that way. We have to get that out of our game.”
The Canadiens controlled most of the game but the persistence of the Pens gave them a chance to get even in the third.
“At one point, the shots were 30-15 and we were taking it to them,” Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban said. “We have to realize that everybody’s gunning for us and we’re going to have to play a full 60 minutes to beat any team, and going into the third period we had the score that we wanted. We didn’t get the result out of it. We have to try to put teams away, but things happen.”
Brendan Gallagher, Brian Flynn and Andrei Markov scored for Montreal.
“We could tell they were frustrated in the second because we were playing the right way,” Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said. “We’re a tough team to play against when we get pucks deep, but if we’re a step behind, then our breakout is much easier than if we come in guns blazing. So that little extra step behind and being a little lackadaisical in the third, maybe sitting back on our heels a little too much, but maybe that might be the difference tonight.”
Pascal Dupuis and Olli Maatta also had goals for the Pens in regulation.
Marc-Andre Fleury left the game in the first with a cut but did return to earn the win.
“[Lovejoy] felt bad a little bit, but that happens I guess,” Fleury said. “I was just worried for a [second] because I felt my eye going down. My dad lost an eye to a stick, so I was a little worried. … It did [get swollen] a little bit, but not that bad.”
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