The three-game sweep of the NHL from Monday starts in Pittsburgh where Mike Sullivan secured his first win behind the bench for the Penguins in a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Obviously, it’s a relief,” Sullivan said. “Everybody here wants to win. Everybody cares. When you go through a slide, everybody squeezes their stick a little bit more, and dealing with those pressures is part of the challenge. So, obviously to get a win tonight, before the Christmas break, I think guys can feel good about themselves.”
The Pens used goals from Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, who each scored twice, and David Warsofsky in the 5-2 win.
Matthew Murray picked up his first career NHL win in the Pens net.
“I think I made a couple saves when I needed to,” Murray said. “I didn’t have to be spectacular to win the game, but I think I was there when I needed to be, and I’d like to have one or two of those goals back, but I always say that, and we got the win. That’s what matters, and I’m excited to get my first win out of the way.”
The loss snapped a two-game streak for the Blue Jackets.
“They have a good team over there,” Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky said. “We had too many turnovers and we just didn’t win enough battles. I didn’t win enough battles. I spent the majority of the game in my own zone. I have to be a catalyst. Getting on the forecheck. Being physical. Creating scoring chances. I didn’t do any of that tonight.”
The Jackets’ fortunes may have changed on a two-man advantage late in the first period.
“I thought we changed when we did squat on that 5-on-3. I thought things changed right there,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “It’s just something where we have to park that. It was a lousy 5-on-3, but you have to park that. We weren’t playing too bad up to that point. I just thought our whole game changed from there.
“Then, they played harder. They played harder than we did tonight and that’s why they won.”
And more fire has been added under the Tortorella kettle.
In Nashville, the Predators hung a 5-1 loss on the Montreal Canadiens Monday; it was the Habs’ fourth straight loss and eighth in their last nine.
Shea Weber and Roman Josi remained hot for the Preds in scoring in the first and second periods, respectively.
Weber has 15 points in the month of December.
“The game is weird like that,” Weber said. “Sometimes you think you deserve better and you go on a little bit of a skid or a little drought for a little bit, or whatever you want to call it, and sometimes you maybe shouldn’t be getting the ones that you do.
“It all evens out in the end. The biggest thing is wins. We’re focused on getting the team wins, and these two before the (Christmas) break are big.”
Pekka Rinne made 35 saves for Nashville in the win.
Alex Galchenyuk scored the lone goal for Montreal.
“Puck luck is going to turn,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “We need better performances from goaltending obviously. Every goalie that we face, they end up having the first star. The thing a coach could ask is that they are focused on playing the right way, playing in a structure and having a really good work ethic. This is what we ask from the players.”
Ryan Ellis. Calle Jarnkrok and Colin Wilson also scored for the Predators.
Dustin Tokarski absorbed the loss on 11 saves off 14 shots. Mike Condon was sent into the game at 3-0 Nashville and surrendered one goal on four shots.
“I thought we as a line created some chances, but at the end of the day we have to score more,” Galchenyuk said. “The chances were there, but we have to find a way to put it in. We especially had a good couple of chances in the first and second [periods], and it’s unfortunate that we are trying to get offense and get goals and things aren’t working.”
In Denver, the Toronto Maple Leafs broke out their goal sticks in a 7-4 thrashing of the Colorado Avalanche Monday.
Tyler Bozak scored a hat trick in the third period for the Leafs.
“We were happy we were tied going into the third on the road,” Bozak said. “We had some good plays and some lucky bounces.”
Semyon Varlamov took the loss on 15 saves off 21 shots.
“I saw that Varly was tired. He had a great run, he played hard for us,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said. “I thought I might as well stay with Varly. It’s too bad because Varly played so well and the team had such a good run.
“After the first 10 minutes, it seemed like our focus was gone and we just had a hard time to get back in that game. It just wasn’t there for us.”
Jonathan Bernier had 24 stops for the win.
“We’ve grown over the last couple of weeks, and that’s something we’re going to bring with us into the Christmas break,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “This one, we’ll definitely have to think about it and watch video and see what we can do better. We know we’re a strong group in here; we’re going to keep our heads high and get some rest.”
Leo Komarov added two goals for the Leafs and James van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul also scored.
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