About last night: Ylönen scores his first career goal in a 5-2 loss to Pens

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The Pittsburgh Penguins extend their winning streak to five, while the Montreal Canadiens have lost their last seven.

Author of the article:

Erik leijon • Special to Montreal Gazette

The Penguins' Kasperi Kapanen hits the puck over Canadiens goalkeeper Jake Allen for the first goal of the game Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins’ Kasperi Kapanen hits the puck over Canadiens goalkeeper Jake Allen for the first goal of the game Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. Photo by Gene J. Puskar /Associated Press

The red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins and the Icy Montreal Canadiens continued their respective streaks Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, with the home team leading 5-2. The Pens have now won five in a row, while the Habs have lost their last seven.

Sidney Crosby added two assists to his impressive career totals against Montreal, giving him 400 multi-point career games. Kristopher Letang set a milestone of his own with the 600th point of his career. Jesse Ylönen also received a record for his collection – he scored his first NHL goal.

Defender Jeff Petry returned to action after missing four games. He played 20:26.

After the Habs hit two of their five goal posts on the night, Kasperi Kapanen opened scoring at 11:08 in the first, showing off his hand-eye coordination by hitting a puck in the air around his abdomen that Jake Allen was trying to hit. catch first.

Letang thought he had his 600 point with an assist from Kapanen, but the scorers only gave Evan Rodrigues an assist. You wouldn’t have to wait long to get to 600 forever. In the second period, Letang on the spot fed Rodrigues at the left side serve spot, who started a no-screen timer to beat Allen. The power play goal gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead.

The Canadians only took 14 seconds to respond. After Mike Matheson handed the puck to Laurent Dauphin, the Hab forward found Jonathan Drouin up front. Drouin backhanded and beat Tristan Jarry to put Montreal within one goal.

The Penguins entered the game on a streak of 30 consecutive penalty kills, adding to that number another two kills overnight. They took a 3-1 lead at 11:27 of the second when Crosby found an open Matheson coming in from the spot. Matheson waited for Danton Heinen to skid into Allen’s field of vision before firing a shot through traffic to regain Pittsburgh’s two-goal lead.

With three seconds left in the period, Ylönen scored his first. Drouin burst into the area and headed for the boards before dropping the puck to his linemate. With time nearly exhausted, Ylönen finished and fired a strong shot past Jarry to send the Habs into intermission with just one goal. Drouin got his second point of the night.

That was the closest the Habs got. Just 28 seconds into the third period, Crosby got his second assist of the night, fueling Brian Dumoulin on the spot. His shot cut through traffic to hit the back of the net.

Brian Boyle shattered Montreal’s hopes at 9:38 of the third with a surprising steal of Ryan Poehling’s puck and a quick snapshot that beat Allen before he could establish. For the tenth time, the Canadiens surrendered five or more goals in a game.

If the Habs continue to lose and spend more time on the ice with younger players, fans may see more first goals or milestones early in their career before the season ends. Before getting to the comments, Bob Taylor posed a question for everyone to consider:

“I missed the blog on Saturday as I was at a Christmas function surrounded by Leaf fans. They weren’t laughing at the bad performance of the Habs because they themselves have been there for years. What they were laughing at was the fact that some of the Habs players stayed on the ice after the Pens game to acknowledge Fleury’s victory. They thought it was ridiculous. Does anyone else think the Habs shouldn’t have done that? “

Agree? Disagree? It might be all the basketball I watch, but I’ve gotten used to players from opposing teams showing camaraderie after the bell rings. Is hockey different?

3. “If this continues, we will have a Price and a Wright on the same team. Count Bob Barker for the GM jokes. “-Michael Way

2. “This is a season where multiple eight-game losing streaks will be cheered and cheered on.” -Ryan Katz

1. “Montreal Seals are too busy flapping their flippers to see what’s going on in the NHL. OTT, DET, BUF, ANA, NYR, to name five, are on the rise. In the meantime, this spring Habs will become one of the 25 WORST TEAMS OF ALL TIME IN THE NHL… ”-Rudi Hittisau

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Reference-montrealgazette.com

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