Crosby climbs all-time scoring list in 4-3 Penguins shootout win over Canadiens

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) is tripped up by Montreal Canadiens' Christian Dvorak (28) during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Wednesday, Dec., 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Sidney Crosby put on a show with two goals and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins came back from two goals down to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night.

Jansen Harkins scored the winner to end a lengthy shootout with a goal in the 12th round.

Jake Guentzel had the other goal in regulation for Pittsburgh (13-12-3) a night after the Penguins beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 to snap a four-game skid.

Erik Karlsson had two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic made 39 saves.

Crosby tied former teammate Mark Recchi for 13th most points in NHL history with 1,533 (567 goals, 966 assists). The 36-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., passed Paul Coffey (1,531 points) for 14th in the process. Crosby also scored in the shootout.

David Savard, Jayden Struble and Sean Monahan scored for Montreal (12-13-4). The Canadiens have lost eight of their last nine games at Bell Centre. Sam Montembeault stopped 27 shots.

The Penguins went 2-for-3 on the power play. The Canadiens were 1-for-4.

Montreal failed to score after spending almost an entire 4-on-3 overtime power play in Pittsburgh’s zone following an Evgeni Malkin tripping penalty.

Sharpshooter Cole Caufield — who is goalless in seven games — had six shots on goal in the game but couldn’t find a way past Nedeljkovic.

Montreal controlled the third period after Pittsburgh came back from down 3-1 in the second to tie it.

The Canadiens had multiple opportunities to retake the lead with an early power play, but found their way blocked by Nedeljkovic.

Later in the frame, Juraj Slafkovsky hit a post and Josh Anderson sailed a shot over an open cage on a 2-on-1, keeping the game tied.

The Canadiens had another power play with three minutes left but couldn’t keep the puck in Pittsburgh’s zone.

Montreal had started the game strong as Savard opened the scoring 6:24 into the first period when he picked off an Erik Karlsson turnover at the blue line and fired a shot past Nedeljkovic for his first of the season.

Struble doubled Montreal’s lead at 12:21 with his second in three games.

Crosby cut into the lead 87 seconds later by forcing a giveaway from Kaiden Guhle behind Montreal’s net and burying a rebound off a shot from Drew O’Connor.

The Canadiens retook a two-goal with a power-play goal at 15:20 as Mike Matheson’s wrist shot from the post trickled through Nedeljkovic and landed on the goal line, where Monahan was on hand to tap it in.

But it was all Penguins — and Crosby — in the second period.

Guentzel scored off a feed from Crosby 5:36 into the second on the power play to make it 3-2.

Crosby then buried his second of the game and team-leading 17th of the season at 11:02 with another power-play goal that evened the score.

The two-time Hart Trophy winner as league MVP almost had a hat trick in the dying seconds of the period by deflecting a shot from Vinnie Hinostroza into the net, but time had just expired.

HEINEMAN CALLED UP

The Canadiens recalled six-foot, 202-pound forward Emil Heineman from American Hockey League affiliate Laval and placed forward Tanner Pearson on injured reserve.

Heineman, a 2020 second-round pick, has one goal and three assists in seven AHL games this season. The 22-year-old took reps on the Canadiens’ top line alongside Caufield and Nick Suzuki in training camp but has yet to make his NHL debut. Pearson is out 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Penguins: Visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023.