Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens
· National Hockey LeagueJacob Fowler has 1st NHL shutout, Canadiens send Penguins to 8th straight loss with 4-0 win
The teams will meet again Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
Josh Anderson scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Owen Beck had his first NHL goal for Montreal. Juraj Slafkovsky also scored to help Montreal improve to 19-12-4 with its second straight victory.
The Penguins dropped their eighth straight to fall to 14-11-9.
Stuart Skinner stopped 17 shots in his second start for Pittsburgh. He allowed five goals in a 6-4 loss to Edmonton in his Pittsburgh debut Tuesday night after being acquired from Edmonton.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby remained at 1,722 career points, one shy of idol and mentor Mario Lemieux for the franchise lead. Pittsburgh was shut out for the second consecutive game, also falling 4-0 to Ottawa on Thursday night.
Slafkovsky, after keeping the play alive with a stick-check, ripped a shot into the top corner off a pass from Cole Caufield on the power play to open the scoring with 3:19 left in the first period.
Beck doubled the lead with 1:11 remaining in the period after blowing by a falling Parker Wotherspoon and firing a shot over Skinner’s left shoulder.
Midway through the second period, Anderson scored on a short-handed goal on a breakaway.
Regular Season SeriesMTL leads series 2-0
Scoring Summary
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Goal | 1st Period 16:41 | Juraj Slafkovský Goal (10) Snap Shot, assists: Cole Caufield (18), Nick Suzuki (30) |
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Goal | 1st Period 18:49 | Owen Beck Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Brendan Gallagher (10), Lane Hutson (27) |
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Goal | 2nd Period 12:14 | Josh Anderson Goal (7) Snap Shot, assists: Oliver Kapanen (7) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 17:02 | Josh Anderson Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: none |
Statistics
PIT |
MTL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Blocked Shots | 16 |
| 24 | Hits | 16 |
| 4 | Takeaways | 5 |
| 31 | Shots | 21 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 3 | Power Play Opportunities | 1 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 100.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 1 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 28 | Faceoffs Won | 18 |
| 60.9 | Faceoff Win Percent | 39.1 |
| 20 | Giveaways | 8 |
| 1 | Total Penalties | 3 |
| 2 | Penalty Minutes | 6 |
Montreal Canadiens Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Evans, C | Injured Reserve | Dec 27 |
| Kaiden Guhle, D | Injured Reserve | Dec 20 |
| Kirby Dach, C | Injured Reserve | Dec 20 |
Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Harrison Brunicke, D | Out | Dec 9 |
| Evgeni Malkin, C | Injured Reserve | Dec 9 |
| Peyton Kettles, D | Out | Nov 24 |
| Caleb Jones, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 25 |
| Tanner Howe, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 7 |
Game Information
Bell Centre
Location: Montreal, QC
Attendance: 20,962 | Capacity:
Location: Montreal, QC
Attendance: 20,962 | Capacity:
2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Carolina |
24 | 11 | 51 | 3 |
NY Islanders |
21 | 14 | 46 | 4 |
Philadelphia |
19 | 11 | 45 | 7 |
Washington |
20 | 14 | 45 | 5 |
NY Rangers |
19 | 17 | 43 | 5 |
New Jersey |
20 | 16 | 42 | 2 |
Pittsburgh |
16 | 12 | 41 | 9 |
Columbus |
17 | 15 | 40 | 6 |
2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit |
23 | 14 | 49 | 3 |
Tampa Bay |
22 | 13 | 47 | 3 |
Montreal |
20 | 12 | 46 | 6 |
Florida |
21 | 15 | 44 | 2 |
Buffalo |
20 | 14 | 44 | 4 |
Boston |
20 | 18 | 42 | 2 |
Ottawa |
18 | 15 | 41 | 5 |
Toronto |
17 | 15 | 40 | 6 |



PIT
MTL
Carolina
NY Islanders
Philadelphia
Washington
NY Rangers
New Jersey
Pittsburgh
Columbus
Detroit
Tampa Bay
Montreal
Florida
Buffalo
Boston
Ottawa
Toronto