Canadiens beat Penguins 5-4 for fifth straight win

Josh Anderson scored twice and added an assist as the Montreal Canadiens downed the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Saturday night for their fifth straight win.

Chris Kreider had one goal and one assist while Oliver Kapanen and Alexandre Texier also scored as Montreal (9-3-2) returned home from an undefeated four-game Western road trip. Lane Hutson pitched in with two assists.

Jacob Fowler made 25 saves and became the third Canadiens rookie goalie in the past 40 years to win seven consecutive games.

Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson replied with one goal and two assists each, while Tommy Novak and Rickard Rakell tallied one goal and one assist apiece for Pittsburgh (5-7-2).

Sergei Murashov stopped 22 shots.

Karlsson teed up a one-timer to open the scoring on the power play at 2:08, but the Canadiens swiftly replied with two goals 24 seconds apart.

Kapanen beat a shaky Murashov between the legs for his first goal in 24 games – regular season and playoffs combined – after Owen Beck found him on the rush at 2:41. Anderson then picked off Hendrix Lapierre’s breakout pass and ripped a shot into the top-right corner.

Pittsburgh responded at 7:28 of an action-packed first period when Novak slipped a backhand through Fowler off the rush.

The Canadiens opened the second with another burst, scoring twice in 27 seconds to take a 4-2 lead at 2:21. Texier beat Murashov with a deke after a slick behind-the-back pass from Hutson, then Kreider followed his own rebound for his second of the season.

Rakell replied at 3:45, beating Fowler glove side after Karlsson knocked down a clearance at the blue line. But Anderson restored Montreal’s two-goal lead when his deflection of Hutson’s point shot bounced off Murashov, defenceman Kris Letang and in.

Crosby pulled one back with 3:11 remaining in regulation, shovelling home a rebound with the goalie pulled.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Captain Nick Suzuki (hand) remained out for his fifth straight game but appeared close to returning after joining the team’s optional morning skate. Veteran defenceman Mike Matheson (two weeks, lower body) and forward Kirby Dach (sick) also missed the game.

Penguins: Murashov fell to 0-4-1 on the season. The 22-year-old Russian entered the game with an .883 save percentage and a 3.50 goals-against average.

Key moment

Beck, called up from the AHL in Suzuki’s absence, raised the roof midway through the second period when the 22-year-old forward finished a hard hit on Penguins defenceman Kaedan Korczak, then pummelled forward Blake Lizotte in his first NHL fight.

Key stat

With his 1,112th career assist on the first goal, Crosby passed Boston Bruins great Ray Bourque for the most with one franchise in NHL history. The 39-year-old centre also tied Marcel Dionne for sixth on the all-time scoring list with 1,771 career points.

Up coming

Penguins: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

Canadiens: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.