NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens

· National Hockey League

Kirby Dach scores in OT as Canadiens beat Penguins 3-2

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which trailed 2-0 after two periods. Cole Caufield also scored, and Kaiden Guhle had two assists.

The Canadiens (2-2-0) also won their home opener, beating Toronto 4-3 on Wednesday night.

“It’s huge for us,” Suzuki said. “We want to be good on home ice. In the last couple of years, we haven’t really done that. It’s important to win at home and we want to put on a good show for our fans, so to win games, and to win games like that, it’s pretty fun.”

After Jeff Petry was sent off in overtime for cross-checking for his third penalty of the game, Dach got a pass from Sean Monahan and beat Casey DeSmith for the power-play goal.

It was Dach's first goal since he was acquired in a July trade with Chicago.

Evgeni Malkin had two goals for Pittsburgh, and Bryan Rust had two assists. DeSmith made 36 saves.

“It’s real disappointing,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t like the first period at all. I thought the second period we started to play. I thought we were probably the better team in the second period, but that’s the only period. It’s hard to win in this league when we only play one period.”

Crosby was held off the scoresheet. The center had a goal and two assists in each of the Penguins' first two games — both victories.

Samuel Montembeault stopped 26 shots for Montreal.

The Penguins nearly jumped out to an early lead. Danton Heinen grabbed a loose puck in the left faceoff circle and surprised Montembeault with a wrist shot, but a video review showed the puck hit both goalposts without crossing the goal line.

After a scoreless first period, Malkin got his second goal of the season 3:52 into the second. He converted a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Marcus Pettersson.

Malkin recorded his second goal of the game four minutes later. The center hopped on Montembeault’s rebound in the slot to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead.

The Canadiens cut the deficit to one early in the third. Suzuki broke into the offensive zone and hit the post with a wrist shot, but the captain rounded the net to grab his own rebound and tapped it in.

With 2:26 remaining, the Canadiens called a timeout and pulled Montembeault. Jonathan Drouin then found Caufield with a cross-ice pass, and Caufield tied it at 2.

PETRY RETURNS

Petry played his first game at the Bell Centre in a Penguins uniform. The 34-year-old defenseman was booed on his first touch of the puck.

During a commercial break in the first period, the Canadiens showed a video honoring Petry’s eight seasons in Montreal. He received a nice ovation, only to be booed seconds later on his next shift.

ALLEN ON LEAVE

Goaltender Jake Allen missed the game because he was on parental leave with his wife due to give birth. Montembeault was told he would be in for Allen the morning of the game.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Montembeault said about preparing for the game. “It wasn’t until this morning when I showed up to the rink and I saw that his gear wasn’t there, so I kind of knew at that moment that I was going to be in.”

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Canadiens: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

MTL leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 3:52 Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin assisted by Marcus Pettersson and Bryan Rust
Goal 2nd Period 7:56 Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin assisted by Bryan Rust and Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Goal 3rd Period 1:10 Goal scored by Nick Suzuki assisted by Kaiden Guhle and Mike Hoffman
Goal 3rd Period 17:40 Goal scored by Cole Caufield assisted by Jonathan Drouin and Kaiden Guhle
Goal 4th Period 3:09 Goal scored by Kirby Dach assisted by Sean Monahan and Nick Suzuki (PPG)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/pit.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPIT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/mtl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMTL
17 Blocked Shots 16
17 Hits 19
2 Takeaways 12
28 Shots 39
0 Power Play Goals 1
3 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 33.3
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
28 Faceoffs Won 26
51.9 Faceoff Win Percent 48.1
19 Giveaways 16
3 Total Penalties 3
6 Penalty Minutes 6
Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Kirby Dach, C Out Mar 17
Patrik Laine, RW Injured Reserve Jan 10
Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Kevin Hayes, RW Out Mar 18
Samuel Girard, D Out Mar 18
Blake Lizotte, C Out Mar 17
Ryan Graves, D Injured Reserve Mar 14
Filip Hallander, C Injured Reserve Feb 27

Game Information

Bell Centre

Location: Montreal, QC
Attendance: 21,105 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 43 19 92 6
Pittsburgh 34 18 84 16
NY Islanders 39 24 83 5
Columbus 35 21 81 11
Washington 34 27 76 8
Philadelphia 31 23 74 12
New Jersey 35 31 72 2
NY Rangers 28 32 64 8

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 42 20 90 6
Tampa Bay 41 21 86 4
Montreal 37 20 84 10
Boston 37 23 82 8
Detroit 37 23 82 8
Ottawa 34 24 77 9
Toronto 29 28 70 12
Florida 33 31 69 3
Full Standings