On a night that featured another milestone for the Pittsburgh Penguins, their best player - once again - came through in the clutch.
Captain Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the second straight game, leading the Penguins to victory over the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, and securing a win for defenseman Kris Letang's 1,100th game.
Forward Blake Lizotte, playing in his second game in a Penguins' uniform after missing the team's first 10 games with a concussion, added an empty-net goal at the end to seal the deal. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves on 26 Montreal shots.
- Crosby's first snipe was gorgeous, and it's nice to see the captain getting hot over these last couple of games. But Rickard Rakell deserves a lot of credit for making that play happen.
The puck was dumped behind and around Montreal goaltender Sam Montembault, and Rakell hustled to the corner and won a puck battle along the boards. He then turned around and fired a pass between the legs of Alex Newhook and onto Crosby's stick.
Just an outstanding instance of hustle and strong board play by Rakell. He wins a lot of puck battles and has an ability to create "something out of nothing," as head coach Mike Sullivan has alluded to. That acceleration and speed training he did over the summer really paid off here as well.
Crosby had high praise for his teammate as well.
"'Raks' is really strong on the puck," Crosby said. "On that play, he strips the guy, and I think he's done a great job of finding those soft spots to get shots off and use his shot that way, but then also, he's been really strong on pucks, holding onto it, and making plays. We're doing a good job of reading off of each other and generating some good looks because of it."
I feel like I'm repeating myself, but Rakell has been very, very good for the Penguins this season.
- As far as Crosby is concerned, I'm not sure there's much else to say at this point. He has seven points in his last three games. He factored in on the seven goals prior to Lizotte's empty-netter, and he scored their last four prior.
He's just a man on a mission right now. He's been spectacular and is making his slow start look like a distant memory. And it's no coincidence that the Penguins' other two best offensive players this season - Evgeni Malkin and Rakell - have been by his side to help get him going.
I was skeptical about whether or not loading the top line was going to work. But, man, has it worked so far. It's certainly not sustainable, especially against the league's better teams.
But, boy, is it fun to watch them dominate games right now.
- Overall, I've liked Valtteri Puustinen's game up to this point. But I did notice tonight that he was getting overmatched physically and lost some key puck battles in the defensive zone.
He got some chances in the offensive zone, so it may not be too much to read into. Just an observation.
- Even though the Penguins controlled play for the most part, there was an element of sloppiness in this game from both sides, especially in the neutral zone.
Not sure if the ice was bad or if plays just weren't connecting. But there were just a ton of mishandled passes, players falling to the ice, and pucks being on edge.
- Ryan Graves is playing with a ton of confidence right now. He's very engaged.
He was all over the offensive zone tonight. He was skating with purpose and making plays to create chances. He was pretty strong on the breakout. He made a few nice plays to break up passes and cut off angles in the defensive zone as well.
Really strong game from him. I like what I'm seeing from him this season, and Graves playing well is a really good thing for the Penguins. If Matt Grzelcyk continues to struggle, I can see him getting elevated in the lineup soon. He's earned at least a shot at those minutes.
- Another couple of players who had strong games - despite failing to show up on the scoresheet - were Michael Bunting and Anthony Beauvillier.
Bunting is engaged physically and being the scrappy, disruptive forward that folks are used to seeing. He's getting to the dirty areas and causing havoc in front of the net, which is what he's doing when he's at his best. He even got a healthy spear in a really bad spot from Arber Xhekaj in front of the net after poking at Montembault for a rebound.
A goal is surely on the horizon for him soon. Sullivan said the same thing in his presser.
As for Beauvillier? He was strong on the forecheck all night, forced a few offensive zone turnovers, and made a spectacular stick play early in the third period to rob the Habs of a scoring chance.
There was a wide open net to Nedeljkovic's right, and Cole Caufield swung for the open cage. Beauvillier swatted at the same time and got the puck out of danger, mid-air, before Caufield could make a play on it.
Good stuff from both of them.
- As a whole, the Penguins have played much tighter defensive games in these last two. They surrendered some good chances near the end of both, but otherwise, they shut down Anaheim and Montreal for most of the 60 minutes in each contest.
It's worth noting that the Penguins have beat two of the league's bottom-feeders. They have struggled against the league's better teams so far this season.
They have a tough divisional schedule this week, playing the New York Islanders (who, although unimpressive this season, have given the Penguins fits) Tuesday before a back-to-back with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals on Thursday and Friday.
Pittsburgh needs to find a way to use some of the momentum they've gained and play responsible defensive hockey against these teams - because they're not going to miss if given "easy offense" opportunities.
