In Pittsburgh, the Penguins needed a win to keep them within striking distance of a wild card spot in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
On Thursday night night, they handed the Montreal Canadiens their fourth straight loss, 4-1, to keep pace with the rest of the pack chasing a spot.
Mike Matheson was the lone striker for the Habs, his goal near the midway point of the opening stanza gave them a 1-0 lead.
From there, it was all downhill for Montreal.
“It’s always a weird feeling. It’s always a lot of mixed emotions coming back,” Matheson said. “You recognize a lot of places. It brings back a lot of memories. So it’s always kind of an odd feeling. You feel comfortable but very uncomfortable at the same time.”
Tristan Jarry made 30 saves in the win.
The Penguins improved to 25-21-8.
“I think we played well enough to win,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I know we’re capable of playing a better game. I think we played well enough to win. Our power play gets an important goal for us. Hopefully, that’ll help those guys moving forward. I think the good thing for our group, the last couple of games, when you look at it, we’re getting contributions offensively through our lineup.”
Kris Letang, who hit for a double, tied the game, 1-1, at 11:24 of the first.
“I think it’s a bit of a case where we have a lot of good stretches of hockey throughout each game,” Matheson said. “Then just kind of one little stretch that bites us. That’s the most difficult thing is to be consistent. That’s what every team is searching for is that perfect 60 minutes. You know you’ll never get there, but you want to get as close as possible.”
The Canadiens dropped to 22-27-8 off their fourth straight loss.
Bryan Rust and Drew O’Connor broke the game open in the middle frame when they potted goals just 21 seconds apart.
Rust hit at 11:30, off the power play, for a 2-1 lead t the Pens.
O’Connor scored at 11:51 for a 3-1 advantage.
“He’s been playing phenomenal,” Rust said of O’Connor. “He’s been skating really, really well. He’s in on the forecheck, causing turnovers. An unbelievable shot on his goal tonight. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. We’re going to need more of that out of him. He’s been fantastic.”
Letang collected his double with 85 seconds left on the clock for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard.
“I thought the special (teams) unit did the job, so we didn’t give them a power play goal,” Letang said. “Power play got us a big one. ‘Jars’ has been really good since the beginning of the year. … To
night, I think it represented the game pretty much.
“It’s a loose team on the other side. They have a lot of creativity. They play with some swag and it’s tough to read so to have a good defensive posture all game was key.”
Cayden Primeau made 23 saves in the loss.
