PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Tommy Novak scores the game winner in overtime and the Penguins outlast Montreal 6-5 in the home opener.
Down 5-1 in the second period, the Canadiens got one back on a Nick Suzuki backhander. Arturs Silovs tried to poke check the loose puck but Suzuki backhanded it past him to make it 5-2 after 2.
Cole Caufield netted his second goal of the game with a wrist shot glove side past Silovs with 16:29 in the game. Egor Chinakhov looked like he made it 6-3 Pens but Montreal challenged for offside and won the challenge to keep it 5-3 Pens with under 15 minutes in the game.
With 1:08 left in the game, Chris Kreider cut it to a one-goal game with a one-timer in front of the net. Then Suzuki made a pass through the crease to Demidov for the equalizer and they tied the game with 44 seconds left.
"They did a better job with not giving up on the game, they kept pushing, it's easy that they fall out of the rhythm too and it just ends 5-1 and nothing is really going to happen, but they didn't do that. Gotta give them credit for that. We have to realize that when we start losing control things can happen like that," said Erik Karlsson.
In overtime, Evgeni Malkin and Novak were on a 2-on-1 rush and Malkin sent the puck to Novak for the game winner. It's Novak's 6th career multi-goal game, his first with the Pens.
"Anytime you kind of give up a lead like that it feels good to come through with the two points. That was huge for us," said Novak.
"They're a good team so there's no question that they didn't quit at any given moment. Maybe we just got a little too hesitant and it's an unfortunate situation but then at the same time, over the course of 84 games, these games are going to happen at some point, it's just that you don't want them to be maybe as frequent as they were during a short period of time last year," said Karlsson. "At the same time I do think we didn't have our best for the majority of the game today and we still came away with two points against I think one of the best teams in the league."
12 different players recorded a point in the win. Silovs made 20 saves on 25 shots.
"I felt good, I don't think you can really compare last game to this game. This team is more offensively talented. You could see that the way they passed, and how they created opportunities. It's tough to defend, they have skill but most important what matters is the win," said Silovs.
"I think any game you're going to have things that you look back on, even after Philly there were things to clean up. There are more things to clean up after tonight for sure. Even throughout the game I think there were still chances that we were giving up. Breakaways, Arty had to make some massive saves early in the game. We gotta clean it up, it's something going into this year, we know we have to. From an offensive standpoint, generating some really quality looks on our end throughout the game. It's a big positive, getting contributions throughout the lineup is a positive, getting the extra point in overtime, especially after the last couple of minutes, you're going into overtime with not the best feeeling. They stuck with it, found a way and got the two points. We have plenty we can look at and fix. I'm confident this group will correct those things," said Dan Muse.
1st Period
Caufield came off the bench for a line change and wristed the puck past Silovs to make it 1-0 Montreal just 3:49 into the game.
On the power play, the Pens tied it with an Evgeni Malkin goal in front of the net. Kris Letang took a slapshot that deflected off Jakub Dobes and Malkin got the rebound and scored. It's Malkin's second goal of the season and second on the power play.
The Pens were outshot 8 to 1 haflway through the period, they finished the period with 9 shots, allowed 0 the rest of the period from Montreal and tied the game.
2nd Period
32 seconds into the second period Declan Carlile gave the Pens the lead. He raced down the right wing and stutter stepped between two defenders to open the shooting lane and fired it past Dobes. Silovs robbed Nick Suzuki on a breakaway chance to keep it 2-1 Pens. Then made another great save on Lane Hutson.
The Pens had great pressure in the Montreal zone and Sidney Crosby threw the puck towards the net but had it blocked, got the puck back and sent it in front of the net to Samuel Girard for his first goal as a Penguin, extending the lead to 3-1 with 11:59 to play in the second period. Crosby tied Joe Thornton for 7th all-time in the NHL for assists with his 1,109th assist.
Pittsburgh added another goal with 5:59 to play in the period. They had a 2-on-1 rush towards the net and Chinakhov sent it to Novak for the one-timer goal. Ben Kindel was activated from the IR list Saturday night and in his first game back, he buried a power play goal to make it 5-1 Pittsburgh.
Montreal ereased a 5-1 Pens lead to send it OT.
Montreal ereased a 5-1 Pens lead to send it OT.
