Lars Eller scores twice as Penguins wrap up first road trip with gutsy 6-3 win at Canadiens

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Oct 14, 2024

Published in Hockey

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MONTREAL — All things considered, this was a pretty satisfying first road trip.

The Penguins hit the road immediately after their ugly home opener and took two of three against a trio of Atlantic Division teams with legit playoff aspirations.

Sure, there are still concerns about their goaltending situation and a lack of scoring opportunities during the season’s first week. But the Penguins headed back to the ‘Burgh with confidence after beating the Montreal Canadiens, 6-3, on Monday.

This was a gutsy win at Bell Centre. The Penguins had another excellent opening period but coughed up a two-goal lead. They stuck with it and rallied back, thanks in part to a pair of goals from Lars Eller. Newcomer Kevin Hayes got the winner.

He put them up, 4-3, with 12:13 remaining in the third period. Parked in front, the big forward corralled a rebound and tucked the puck behind Sam Montembeault.

Kris Letang added an insurance goal in his hometown to get the good vibes going.

Actually, make that “Good Vibrations,” the team’s new victory song this season.

The Penguins couldn’t have asked for a much better start. It was even better than the one they had two nights earlier in their 4-2 loss in Toronto. They fired the first eight shots and gave Tristan Jarry a 2-0 cushion. The crowd roared when the home team finally recorded a shot on goal with 6:31 remaining in the first period.

Eller and Rickard Rakell got the goals for the Penguins, beating Montembeault.

Eller’s came off the rush. Jesse Puljujarvi pulled up and found the trailing Eller, and the former Canadiens center whipped a perfect shot past Montembeault’s glove.

The Penguins then went to work down low to set up Rakell for his second goal in as many games. They ranked just 30th in the NHL in scoring chances off the cycle entering the night, per Sportlogiq. But Evgeni Malkin made a sweet centering pass from below the goal line to Rakell, who dropped to one knee to finish that off.

The Canadiens came to life late in the first. Jarry had to make a couple of difficult saves before Kaiden Guhle scored on a one-timer from the wall. Jarry, who was the backup in the previous two games, got caught well out of position on that goal.

Montreal carried that momentum into the second period and tied it up, 2-2, with Ryan Graves in the penalty box. On that power-play goal Letang chased a check into the corner and didn’t recover in time to prevent a tap-in tally for Juraj Slafkovsky.

The game soon opened up, with the two teams trading rushes. Emil Heineman gave the Canadiens their first lead when he beat Jarry with a long shot on a 2-on-1.

After that softie, the crowd serenaded the goalie with “Jarry! Jarry! Jarry!” chants.

Eller single-handedly stemmed Montreal’s momentum with his second goal of the night. He snaked his way down the ice and scored a tying goal one versus three.

Jarry regrouped heading into the third period and made a few clutch saves to keep it tied. The best might have come when Lane Hutson, the exciting rookie who had the crowd abuzz whenever he touched the puck, set up Josh Anderson in front.

It was another uneven night for Jarry, but those saves allowed the Penguins to win.

Ice chips

— Malkin added an empty-net goal, putting him one goal away from No. 500.

— Rutger McGroarty was a healthy scratch Monday after he skated in Pittsburgh’s first three games of the season. Puljujarvi re-entered the lineup in his place. If the Penguins do not intend to play McGroarty in the short term, they could opt to send him to the American Hockey League so he can get more playing time there.

— Jack St. Ivany also came out of the lineup Monday in Montreal, with Ryan Shea replacing him on the Pittsburgh blue line. It was Shea’s first game of the season.

— Valtteri Puustinen was also a healthy scratch, making it four straight for him.

— Joel Blomqvist backed up Jarry versus Montreal. Alex Nedeljkovic participated in Monday’s morning skate. It looks as if he will be activated in the next few days.

— Cody Glass left the bench during the second period but returned for the third.

— Ex-Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson assisted on two Canadiens goals.

— Sidney Crosby received a nice ovation when announced as a starter at Bell Centre. The crowd also got loud for Letang and Anthony Beauvillier, also from the region.

— At the morning skate, Mike Sullivan shared a few stories about coaching Martin St. Louis, who is now Montreal’s head coach. “He used to come into my office every morning after a game. He’d be in his underwear. No shoes on,” he chuckled. “He’d put his feet up on the desk and say, ‘Did you watch [the film from] the game?’ ”

— Sullivan enjoyed coaching St. Louis as a Tampa Bay assistant and “admired how invested he was,” and he is not surprised to see that he’s become an NHL coach.

Coming up

The Penguins headed back to Pittsburgh after the game and are scheduled to skate Tuesday in Cranberry in advance of Wednesday’s home game against Buffalo.