Power surge
MONTREAL — The Pittsburgh Penguins finally won without Sidney Crosby, and with some swagger to boot.
Alex Goligoski scored twice and had an assist, and Pittsburgh netted four power-play goals to end a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night.
Tyler Kennedy and Jordan Staal scored with the man advantage in the second period to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead. Goligoski, who opened the scoring at even strength in the first, and Chris Kunitz added power-play goals in the third.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 20 saves, crossed his arms as his teammates gathered around him at the end of the game.
“I thought that’s how you celebrate in Montreal,” said Fleury, who grew up in nearby Sorel, Quebec.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price struck a similar pose after Montreal’s shootout win over Pittsburgh last Thursday.
“That was a push in the back for us and we made sure we could come back and put it in his face,” said Kris Letang, who got his third assist on Pittsburgh’s fifth goal.
The Penguins won without Crosby in the lineup for the first time in four games since their captain was sidelined by a concussion.
“He’s the best player in the game,” Goligoski said. “We have to make sure we’re playing the right way, maybe a little more so when he’s not in the lineup.”
David Desharnais scored his first NHL goal to give the Canadiens a short-lived 2-1 lead early in the second. Tomas Plekanec scored his 13th of the season to tie it at 1 at 13:15 of the first, just 18 seconds after Goligoski opened the scoring with his first goal of the game.
Price stopped 31 shots for Montreal, which ended a three-game winning streak. That run began with the Canadiens goalie stopping five straight Penguins shooters in Thursday’s tiebreaker.
Staal, who also had two assists, scored his first of the season with 10.9 seconds left in the second, an unassisted effort as Pittsburgh took advantage of a too-many-men call against Montreal.
Goligoski got his second of the game — and his ninth of the season — 2:33 into the third after Benoit Pouliot was called for hooking.
Pouliot appeared to have drawn the Canadiens within one at 4:40, but referee Justin St. Pierre immediately waved off the goal and sent the Montreal left wing back to the penalty box for slashing Tyler Kennedy.
“It wasn’t only Benoit; there were others who took penalties, too,” Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. “It was a lack of a discipline in the penalties and a lack of discipline in our penalty killing.”
Goligoski got his third point of the game when Kunitz deflected Kris Letang’s shot past Price at 11:29.
Notes: Penguins RW Arron Asham returned after sitting out Monday’s loss in Boston because of illness. ... Canadiens LW Michael Cammalleri missed his second game in a row because of the flu. ... D Alexandre Picard was left out of Montreal’s lineup.
