{"id":442424,"date":"2025-12-12T13:16:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T13:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/442424\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T13:16:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T13:16:34","slug":"final-canadiens-4-penguins-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/442424\/","title":{"rendered":"Final: Canadiens 4, Penguins 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2022\u00a0Who<\/strong>: Penguins (14-7-7) vs. Canadiens (15-11-3)
\u2022\u00a0What<\/strong>: NHL regular season, Game 29
\u2022\u00a0When<\/strong>: 7:38 p.m.
\u2022\u00a0Where<\/strong>: PPG Paints Arena
\u2022 Goaltenders<\/strong>: Tristan Jarry<\/strong> (9-2-1, .913 SV%) vs.\u00a0Jacob Fowler\u00a0<\/strong>(NHL debut)
\u2022\u00a0TV:<\/strong> SportsNet Pittsburgh
\u2022 Stream:\u00a0<\/strong>SNP360<\/strong><\/a> (local),\u00a0ESPN+<\/strong><\/a> (out-of-market)
\u2022 Radio<\/strong>: Penguins Radio Network<\/strong><\/a>
\u2022 Boxscore<\/strong>: NHL.com<\/strong><\/a>
\u2022 Media<\/strong> notes<\/strong>: Penguins<\/strong><\/a> | Canadiens<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u25ba FOLLOW ALONG<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Final. Canadiens 4, Penguins 2. Goals from Bryan Rust\u00a0<\/strong>and Erik Karlsson.\u00a0<\/strong>Next up: Alex Nedeljkovic<\/strong>‘s homecoming on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Kris Letang\u00a0<\/strong>takes a penalty with 18.6 left, a hook. There goes any push. Fitting way to end.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Kris Letang\u00a0<\/strong>and Erik Karlsson\u00a0<\/strong>are out there together.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tristan Jarry\u00a0<\/strong>to the bench with about 3:45 to go, down two goals.<\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL: Erik Karlsson\u00a0<\/strong>capitalizes on the 6-on-4 from the blue line. Canadiens 4, Penguins 2<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins get a power play with 5:10 left and pull the goaltender for a 6-on-4 power play, down three goals. Bold.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>is 20-4 in faceoffs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins are being outshot 8-1 with the Ryan Shea-Kris Letang\u00a0<\/strong>pair on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Back to full strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Uh. Alexandre Carrier\u00a0<\/strong>just decked Ben Kindel\u00a0<\/strong>in the face in a scrum. Like a full-on punch. He’ll get a roughing call. It’ll be five-on-three for 25 seconds. Crowd is as fired up as it’s been all night,<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ivan Demidov\u00a0<\/strong>takes a hooking penalty with four seconds left in the Danton Heinen\u00a0<\/strong>minor. So it’ll eventually be a Penguins power play.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Now Danton Heinen\u00a0<\/strong>takes a slashing penalty with 17:45 left.<\/p>\n

\u2022 By the way: Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>now only five points from surpassing Mario Lemieux.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL:\u00a0<\/strong>Canadiens respond 15 seconds later off a 2-on-1 with Kris Letang\u00a0<\/strong>as the only man back. Oliver Kapanen\u00a0<\/strong>with the goal. Canadiens 4, Penguins 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL: Bryan Rust,\u00a0<\/strong>44 seconds into the third. He goes to the net and bats in a feed from Sidney Crosby<\/strong>. C<\/strong>anadiens 3, Penguins 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Third period is underway.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Erik Karlsson\u00a0<\/strong>has 10 shot attempts. Nobody else has more than six. Four are actual shots on goal, too.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Of the Penguins’ 21 shots on goal, nine are from the third line. Ben Kindel\u00a0<\/strong>has five, Ville Koivunen\u00a0<\/strong>three, Rutger McGroarty\u00a0<\/strong>one (not counting the post).<\/p>\n

\u2022 In terms of just five-on-five ice time where the whole line is intact, the Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>line is the first line, the Danton Heinen\u00a0<\/strong>line is the second line, the Ben Kindel\u00a0<\/strong>line is the third line, and the Kevin Hayes\u00a0<\/strong>line is the fourth line. And that’s not much difference between the Heinen\/Kindel lines, just a matter of seconds. Special teams does affect some of that.<\/p>\n

\u2022 End of the second. Penguins trail, 3-0. Shots are 21-20 Penguins now.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rutger McGroarty\u00a0<\/strong>rang one off the post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 I can’t ever remember seeing that. There’s such little time to decide if to challenge a goal, and that one was really iffy. Dan Muse\u00a0<\/strong>used his timeout to give them more time to make that call.<\/p>\n

\u2022 No goal. Canadiens 3, Penguins 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Oh, that was smart. Penguins are now challenging the goal for offside. The timeout gave them more time to decide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins call timeout after that.<\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL: Owen Beck\u00a0<\/strong>from the right circle. Ryan Graves\u00a0<\/strong>dropped to block the shot in front of him and just missed.\u00a0Canadiens 4, Penguins 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Connor Clifton\u00a0<\/strong>just came up big with a block to save a goal and then swept the puck away when he stood up.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The good news is this probably won’t go to a shootout.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nevermind. They looked at it, no goal.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pause, Penguins may have scored on the power play. It was missed in real-time but the puck may have snuck in between the pad and post off a Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>shot.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Erik Karlsson<\/strong> with a good chance off a rebound on the power play, but Jacob Fowler\u00a0<\/strong>makes the save.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins go back on the power lay with 9:28 left in the second. Jared Davidson\u00a0<\/strong>for holding.<\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL: Cole Caufield\u00a0<\/strong>capitalizes on the power play from below the goal line. Banked a shot in off Tristan Jarry<\/strong>‘s skates. Canadiens 3, Penguins 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins to the PK with 10:31 left in the second. Ville Koivunen\u00a0<\/strong>is called for a trip off a faceoff.<\/p>\n

\u2022 At this rate Jacob Fowler<\/strong> might not even see 20 shots on goal in his NHL debut.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Nothing on the power play.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins get a power play with 15:02 left in the second. Noah Dobson\u00a0<\/strong>gets two for slashing.<\/p>\n

\u2022 That was real close to being offside.<\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL:\u00a0<\/strong>A rebound off a Penguins shot pops out to Joe Veleno, Brendan Gallagher\u00a0<\/strong>scores off the ensuing rush. Canadiens 2, Penguins 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Now Ben Kindel\u00a0<\/strong>gets a fifth shot on goal for the team. Progress.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Canadiens with a couple of quick shots to open this period. Not ideal.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Penguins four shots are from Anthony Mantha\u00a0<\/strong>(2), Rutger McGroarty\u00a0<\/strong>and Justin Brazeau.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Second period is underway. Both Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>and Bryan Rust\u00a0<\/strong>are still out there after taking shots to the feet last period.<\/p>\n

\u2022 End of the first. Canadiens 1, Penguins 0, sore feet 2. Shots are 8-4 Canadiens. Weird period. Started out awful. Got less bad as it went on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Shots are tied now, 4-4.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Great kill. Back to full strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Now Justin Brazeau\u00a0<\/strong>takes a holding penalty with 6:12 left in the first. Penguins to the PK.<\/p>\n

\u2022 TV timeout comes with 8:38 left in the first. Penguins defensemen have shot more off the feet of their own teammates (2) than the team has shots on goal (1).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Now Erik Karlsson\u00a0<\/strong>puts a shot off Bryan Rust<\/strong>‘s foot. He finished the shift in pain and is now hunched over on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Congratulations to Anthony Mantha,\u00a0<\/strong>who just got the Penguins’ first shot on goal almost 10 minutes into the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>is back out here to start the power play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penguins to the power play with 10:44 left in the first. Alexandre Carrier\u00a0<\/strong>gets two for holding Justin Brazeau.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>has family in town, by the way. Think they just got into town for this game. He’s six points away from surpassing Mario Lemieux\u00a0<\/strong>for the franchise points record.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>is back on the ice. Wow.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Now eight minutes in and no shots on goal for the Penguins. Only real attempt was Kris Letang<\/strong>‘s shot off Sidney Crosby<\/strong>‘s foot.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sidney Crosby\u00a0<\/strong>is still on the bench with an athletic trainer. I guess a good sign that he hasn’t left yet.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Oh, no. Friendly fire shot from Kris Letang<\/strong> hits Sidney Crosby<\/strong> in the left foot. He goes off not putting any weight on it but is on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Five minutes in here and Penguins still don’t have a shot on goal.<\/p>\n

\u2022 GOAL:\u00a0<\/strong>Canadiens score on their second shot of the game off a Kris Letang\u00a0<\/strong>turnover in his own end. Alexandre Texier\u00a0<\/strong>goes bar-down 2:54 in. Canadiens 1, Penguins 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 This one is underway.<\/p>\n

\u2022 I have never seen Star Wars. So do not expect any references from me on Star Wars Night. If they ever do a Back to the Future Night, I’ll be all over that.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Canadiens’ lines and pairings:<\/p>\n

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Zachary Bolduc<\/strong>
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov<\/strong>
Josh Andersen – Owen Beck – Alexandre Texier<\/strong>
Jared Davidson – Joe Veleno – Brendan Gallagher<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson<\/strong>
Jayden Struble – Lane Hutson<\/strong>
Adam Engstrom – Alexandre Carrier<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 There’s a kid behind the bench with a poster that says “Bonino, my dad is your mailman.” That’s one way to draw attention.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Yeah, same lines and pairings as last game, same as they used this morning. Matt Dumba\u00a0<\/strong>and Jack St. Ivany\u00a0<\/strong>are the extras:<\/p>\n

Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha – Kevin Hayes – Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty – Ben Kindel – Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar – Danton Heinen – Noel Acciari<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea – Kris Letang
Ryan Graves – Connor Clifton<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 All eight defensemen are on the ice for warmups. Usually you only see one extra defenseman out there.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jacob Fowler\u00a0<\/strong>gets the solo rookie lap for Montreal. He takes it without the helmet, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 It’s a 7:38 p.m. start time here now. Bad traffic on I-279 south due to a car accident. Players are caught in traffic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2022\u00a0Who: Penguins (14-7-7) vs. Canadiens (15-11-3)\u2022\u00a0What: NHL regular season, Game 29\u2022\u00a0When: 7:38 p.m.\u2022\u00a0Where: PPG Paints Arena\u2022 Goaltenders: Tristan…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":442425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[204012,204011,3104,293,204010,11065,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-442424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-feed-article","9":"tag-feed-live-event","10":"tag-montreal-canadiens","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-on-location","13":"tag-penguins","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115706789008183395","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}