Crosby scores twice in 2nd straight game, Penguins defeat Canadiens

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby scored twice in a second straight game, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won 3-1 against the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Crosby ended a six-game goal drought with two in a 2-1 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.

“Sometimes when you’re pressing, you end up guessing or hesitating and forcing things,” Crosby said. “It ends up snowballing a bit. I think just getting back to being good positionally, just fundamental stuff and then trusting that chances will come. ... I think all that combined with just the way we’re playing as a group, we’re defending better. And it’s way more fun to play that way.”

Kris Letang had an assist in his 1,100th NHL game, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves for the Penguins (5-7-1), who have won two in a row after losing their previous six (0-5-1).

Christian Dvorak scored, and Sam Montembeault made 21 saves for the Canadiens (4-7-1), who have been outscored 16-6 in three straight losses. Cole Caufield’s goal streak ended at four games.

“You would’ve liked to get a result tonight because I feel the guys deserved something,” Montreal coach Martin St-Louis said. “We just didn’t get that. It’s a hard League, but I feel like it‘s a really good sign and a step in the right direction. I feel like, now, it’s just to maintain that.”

Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 15:57 of the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Rickard Rakell to the right face-off circle and dropping to one knee for a snap shot past Montembeault’s blocker.

Montembeault kept the Penguins from extending the lead on a 2-on-1 at 5:26 of the second period. After a save on a wrist shot from Michael Bunting produced a rebound, he slid to his right to turn away another wrist shot from Valtteri Puustinen at 5:28.

“We kind of tried to play good defensively and see where the game was bringing us,” Montembeault said. “But I think the guys bounced back pretty good today. I think we did a good job. You have to give them credit. They didn’t give us much offensively, but I liked the way we played defensively.”

Crosby made it 2-0 on a power play at 18:40 with a wrist shot from the high slot for his fifth goal this season. The Pittsburgh captain is three goals from 600 in the NHL.

“His game is not only scoring goals,” Letang said. “He plays against the top line. He plays in all situations. He carries the momentum of our team most of the time. So it’s not because he’s not scoring goals that he’s not doing his thing. Like, he creates so much for everybody else.

“When you have a Crosby on the ice, everybody kind of focuses on him. It opens so many other guys.”

Dvorak cut it to 2-1 at 5:32 of the third period. After Nedeljkovic couldn’t glove his initial shot, he followed the rebound in the slot for a snap shot and his first goal of the season.

“It’s one game,” Canadiens forward Alex Newhook said. “You’re not going to be able to flip it in one game and create something that’s going to be consistent. We continue to learn and we move on.”

Blake Lizotte scored an empty-net goal at 19:15 for the 3-1 final.

Before that goal, Crosby had factored on each of Pittsburgh’s previous seven across three games (four goals, three assists) at center on a line with Evgeni Malkin at left wing.

“It just gives us an opportunity to control the matches a little bit more,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I don’t think it’s going to change our strategy a lot. We have a certain game plan going in on how we’re going to deploy all of our lines and all of our players. We try to do our best to execute that.”

NOTES: Crosby’s first was his 216th go-ahead goal, passing Marcel Dionne (215) for eighth in NHL history. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (284) is first. ... Letang is the third player to reach 1,100 games for Pittsburgh, joining Crosby (1,285) and Malkin (1,158). ... Before Crosby, Letang was the last player to factor on seven straight goals for Pittsburgh with seven assists in three games from Jan. 27-30, 2015. … Montreal was 0-for-2 on the power play and has converted once on 12 chances in the past three games after scoring eight power-play goals in the first nine games.