Pens Rally Snaps Habs 3-Game Winning Streak

The Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2, ending their own 2 game losing streak and snapping the Habs' winning streak. The Penguins outshot the Canadiens almost 2-1 but even with Carey Price's heroics, the Habs couldn't contain Pittsburgh. Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were held pointless though between them they had 10 shots on Price.

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar got the Penguins up 1-0 at 6:38 of the first, beating Price with a quick shot from the slot after slipping to the net and receiving a sweet backhand pass from Bill Guerin. The Habs got the equalizer midway through the 2nd when Matt D'Agostini corralled the puck after Glen Metropolit forced a turnover along the boards in the Penguins' zone. D'Agostini snapped a wrist shot from the faceoff circle beating goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on Montreal's 1st shot on goal in the period.

3 minutes later, defenseman Roman Hamrlik scored his 5th of the season blasting a shot past Fleury from the top of the faceoff circle for a power play goal with Pittsburgh left winger Ruslan Fedotenko off for a delay of game penalty. Matt Cooke tipped in Gonchar's point shot with 2:15 left in the 2nd to tie the game 2-2.

Pascal Dupuis stepped over the Habs' blueline and blasted a shot through Price's glove that fell into the net behind the netminder for the game winner with 6:39 left in regulation.

The win puts the Penguins back into a tie for the lead in the Atlantic Division with the New Jersey Devils as each team has 43 points, although the Devils have 3 games in hand on the Pens. Montreal remains 4th overall in the Northeast, 5 up on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Pittsburgh will head home to face the Florida Panthers on Saturday, while the Canadiens will visit the Thrashers in Atlanta the same night.