Richard, Canadiens top Penguins to end skid at 7

PITTSBURGH --The Montreal Canadiens ended a seven-game skid with a 6-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Anthony Richard broke a tie in the third period, Denis Gurianov scored in his third straight game, and Sam Montembeault made 39 saves for the Canadiens (27-35-6), who were 0-5-2 during the slide, including an 8-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
"We had a tough first [period] yesterday, but after that, I felt like we didn't hide," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "It's not like we had a lot of time to think about last night's game. We just had to try to get better as the game went on last night and try to carry that into tonight."

Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist, and Kris Letang had a goal and two assists for the Penguins (34-23-10), who remained two points ahead of the New York Islanders for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Islanders lost 5-2 at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
"We came out strong and kind of let our foot off the gas, let them play an easy game," Letang said. "It's one of those that we should've grabbed those points."
Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on seven shots before being relieved at the start of the second period by Casey DeSmith, who made 13 saves.
Jarry has been pulled twice in his past four starts, and three times in his past eight. He allowed four goals on 12 shots before being relieved 22:37 into a 5-4 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 7.
"He's fine from a health standpoint," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said of Jarry. "We're just trying to get him up to speed here on the fly. It's a bit of a challenge. We're working at it."

Richard gave the Canadiens a 5-4 lead at 3:05 of the third with a snap shot from the right face-off circle after receiving a stretch pass from Justin Barron, and Josh Anderson scored an empty-net goal with 35 seconds remaining for the 6-4 final.
"To win after a long stretch like that is always good for the team," Richard said. "We have a day off tomorrow in Florida, it's huge for the momentum for the rest of the [three-game road] trip and the rest of this season to beat a solid team like that."
Guentzel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead 21 seconds into the first period when he cleaned up a rebound at the top of the crease. It was his 400th NHL point.
Evgeni Malkin made it 2-0 at 4:49, scoring on a power play with a one-timer off a pass by Letang.
Mike Hoffman responded 32 seconds later to cut it to 2-1 with a one-timer off a drop pass from Rem Pitlick at 5:21 before Jesse Ylonen sent a snap shot through traffic to tie it 2-2 at 7:13.

Gurianov then gave Montreal a 3-2 lead when he kicked a centering pass from behind the net by Alex Belzile to his stick and finished on a backhand at 11:31.
Joel Edmundson extended it to 4-2 on a one-timer from the point at 19:49 to end a 35-game goal drought.
"I think we just didn't hit the panic button," Barron said. "Obviously, they scored two quick early. We kind of built our game up shift after shift."

Letang cut it to 4-3 at 10:57 of the second period with a wrist shot through traffic from the high slot, and Guentzel tied it 4-4 at 18:05, deflecting a one-timer from Malkin six seconds into a power play.
"It just wasn't good enough," said Penguins forward Jason Zucker, who had a four-game goal streak end. "No answers, but we've got to figure it out. It's not good enough."
NOTES:Pittsburgh defenseman Jeff Petry (undisclosed) did not play in the third period, and defenseman Jan Rutta left the game at 4:06 of the third after taking a shot from David Savard off the inside of his left knee. Sullivan did not have an update on either player after the game. … Gurianov extended his point streak to four games (three goals, one assist). … Penguins defenseman Dmitry Kulikov did not play and is week to week after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers on Sunday. Pierre-Olivier Joseph played in his place. … Malkin extended his point streak to six games (one goal, nine assists). … Barron had two assists, five hits and one blocked shot in 13:14 of ice time after missing six games with an upper-body injury. … Crosby extended his point streak to five games (two goals, six assists).