93.7 The Fan (PITTSBURGH) - The Penguins outlasted the Candiens in the longest shootout in franchise history, in a 4-3 win.
The shootout went 12 rounds, as Jansen Harkins got the game winner past Sam Montembeault.
Pittsburgh saw a quick 2-0 deficit after David Savard and Jayden Struble both scored. As Montreal had the puck behind their own net to reset the offense, Sidney Crosby skated at Kaiden Guhle and forced a turnover. Crosby passed it to Drew O'Connor cutting to the net and after the save was made, Crosby got the rebound and scored. Cosby's goal tied Paul Coffey at 14th in points in the NHL.
Sean Monahan scored on the power play to give the Canadiens a 3-1 lead headed to the second period. Pittsburgh ended a giant slump with a power play goal Tuesday against the Coyotes, they kept the momentum into Wednesday. Crosby found Guentzel for one-timer past Montembeault to make it a one goal game. After another Montreal penalty, Crosby tied the game. Crosby now has 1,533 points in his career, he is tied with former Penguin Mark Recchi for 13th all-time in points.
"Pretty cool, obviously I watched Recch's play here and then played with him after that," said Crosby. "Had some great memories with him, so I knew how great he was over the course of his career and some big year he had here. So that's pretty cool."
After a scoreless five minutes in overtime, the game headed to a shootout. Pittsburgh and Montreal traded punches in the first two rounds with all four skaters scoring. Then the goaltenders made four saves each. Alex Nedeljkovic was shaken up after the save he made on Christian Dvorak, but was able to stay in the game. Lars Eller scored in the seventh round hoping to end the game, but Monahan responded and it was headed to round eight.
Nedeljkovic and Montembeault continued to make save after save. Nedeljkovic saved a wrist shot from Josh Anderson, and the stage was set for Harkins to end it. It was the first shootout attempt of the season for Harkins. His wrist shot hit off Montembeault and trickled past him into the net for the game winning goal.
After a slow start, Nedeljkovic turned in a solid performance making 39 saves in regulation and another nine in the shootout.
"There's nothing like making a big save like that and quieting the crowd," said Nedeljkovic. "And then the opposite at home right? When everybody's quiet and booing and then you make a save and then all of a sudden they're cheering again. It's a lot of fun."