The Penguins were out of sync from the opening faceoff of their 4-2 loss to Montreal last night, falling behind 3-0 after two periods before Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson each scored in the third. 21-year-old rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler, a lifelong Penguins fan, made 36 saves in his NHL debut for the Canadiens.
The game’s start was delayed by a half-hour because of a massive Pittsburgh traffic jam caused by a crash on I-279, with many of the Pens’ players stuck in the middle of it and arriving late to the arena. The tone of the game was set 2:54 into the first period when Montreal’s Alexander Texier intercepted a botched Kris Letang centering pass in the Penguins’ zone, wristing a laser shot past Tristan Jarry for the game’s first goal. The Canadiens added two more goals in the second period and another in the third, just 15 seconds after Rust had gotten the Penguins on the board.
Coach Dan Muse says the Penguins just couldn’t find their stride.
Sidney Crosby was hobbled when he took a Letang slapshot off his foot in the first period. He missed about three minutes of ice time, then returned with no ill effects. He says the Penguins couldn’t find their offensive game.
Rust scored his ninth goal for the Pens early in the third period. He says the Penguins weren’t sharp.
Before the game, the Penguins activated defenseman Jack St. Ivany from the injured/non-roster list. He joined fellow defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Matt Dumba as healthy scratches last night.
The Pens play back-to-back home games tomorrow and Sunday, with 3 o’clock faceoffs against San Jose and Utah. Pittsburgh native Logan Cooley, who is Utah’s leading goal scorer with 14, was placed on injured reserve yesterday and is expected to miss at least the next eight weeks with a lower body injury.
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