Montreal Canadiens beat Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0
Left winger Michael Cammalleri finished with a goal and an assist, while Carey Price saved all 26 shots to record his eighth shutout of the season, as the Montreal Canadiens dominated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 at the CONSOL Energy Centre on Saturday night.
Cammalleri was pleased with his side’s all-round performance. He said after the game, "We did a lot of the little stuff today. We were putting shots on net, putting pressure in their zone and limiting their chances in our own end. A well-played game."
Tomas Plekanec and Travis Moen both also tallied for Montreal, who won for the sixth time in their last seven games. With this victory, Montreal are just two points behind fifth-place Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference with a 38-24-7 record for the
season.
Marc-Andre Fleury was benched in the middle stanza after allowing three goals on 12 shots for Pittsburgh. Brent Johnson replaced him and made all eight saves the rest of the way for Penguins, who have dropped seven of their last 10 games.
The Penguins lost three of four contests against the Canadiens in this season’s series, including two games at the Consol Energy Centre.
Penguins Head Coach Dan Bylsma was disappointed that his side didn’t perform well. He said, "I don't think it was a very well executed game by us today. We just didn't do anything right today and it cost us two points. They didn't have to work very hard
out there."
Montreal opened up a 1-0 lead just less than a minute into the game when Plekanec notched his 21st goal of the season. Cammalleri grabbed the puck and passed it to Plekanec, who sunk a backhander past the Penguins net-minder.
Price, who has a .965 save percentage, made just five stops in the opening stanza to maintain a 1-0 lead for the Canadiens. Montreal struck again less than a minute into the middle frame when right winger Brian Gionta dished out a pass from the slot to the
right side, where Moen one-timed the puck past Penguins goalie Fleury to make it a 2-0 game.
Moen said of Gionta's assist after the game, "It's just a great pass. I opened up, closed my eyes and put it on net."
The Canadiens extended their lead to 3-0 in the seventh minute of the second stanza when Cammalleri fired a one-timer past Fleury for his 16th goal of the season. Price turned aside 11 shots in the second period to keep the Penguins ahead and stopped 10
shots in the final frame to notch his 12th career-shutout.
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