MONTREAL — Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins started quickly — and then just kept going against the Montreal Canadiens.

Crosby had a goal and three assists, Jake Guentzel scored two goals and had two assists and the Penguins cruised to a 5-1 victory Saturday night.

Evgeni Malkin and Jared McCann — into an empty net — also scored for Pittsburgh, and Matt Murray stopped 36 of 37 shots.

“Murray was terrific in goal and Sid had a monster night,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “His line was really good. Throughout the lineup, it was a good, solid effort.”

Both the Penguins and Canadiens have 77 points in the standings. Pittsburgh is in the first wild-card spot with the victory, while Montreal dropped down into the second slot.

“You want to get out and get a good start like that,” said Guentzel, who reached the 30-goal plateau for the first time. “Especially in their building. It was key for us to come out and do that.”

Brendan Gallagher scored the only goal for the Canadiens.