Crosby, Penguins defeat Canadiens for fifth straight win

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby had two assists to become the 14th player in NHL history with 400 multipoint games, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins extend their winning streak to five games with a 5-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Crosby, who is the only active player to reach that mark, has scored 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 16 games this season after missing the first seven because of offseason wrist surgery. The Pittsburgh captain was sidelined another five games while in NHL COVID-19 protocol before returning Nov. 14.
"I just think I feel better timingwise," Crosby said. "There's a lot more chances there. If I had to evaluate, I would've liked to bury a few more. But I think, besides that, as far as generating chances, timing and that sort of thing, it's a lot more comfortable than it was starting out."
Kris Letang had an assist to reach 600 NHL points, Evan Rodrigues had a goal and two assists, and Tristan Jarry made 28 saves for the Penguins (15-8-5), who are 10-2-1 in their past 13 games.
Jake Allen made 26 saves, and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (6-21-3), who have lost seven in a row since a 6-3 win at Pittsburgh on Nov. 27.
"I don't think the score reflects the game," Montreal coach Dominique Ducharme said. "I thought we were competitive pretty much all night."

Kasperi Kapanen gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 11:08 of the first period. He bunted an attempted clear from Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry out of midair after it went off Rodrigues.
"There's nothing you can say [about losing seven straight games]. It's frustrating," Petry said. "It's the same things over and over. We're not playing as a team. We're not playing as a group. It's like you're searching to find where people are. Seems like there's no structure out there."
Letang set up Rodrigues for a one-timer on a power play, making it 2-0 at 6:45 of the second.
Montreal took 14 seconds to answer, when Drouin cut it to 2-1 at 6:59. After taking a backhand pass from Laurent Dauphin in the slot, Drouin went forehand to backhand around Jarry.
Mike Matheson extended the lead to 3-1 with a snap shot off a pass from Crosby and past a screen from Danton Heinen at 11:27 of the second period.

Crosby has scored 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in his past nine games.
"I can see it every night, just his game coming," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "It just gets better and better. He's all over the puck."
Jesse Ylonen scored his first NHL goal on a slap shot with three seconds remaining in the period, cutting it to 3-2.
"It's a good feeling, but it's not a good feeling that we lost," Ylonen said after his fourth NHL game. "That's the most important thing."
Crosby used a backhand pass to set up Brian Dumoulin for a one-timer 28 seconds into the third period, pushing it to 4-2.
"Sid's the type of guy where there's some guys, obviously, in the league where you know they're going to make the play," Dumoulin said. "Sid's one of those. He can have two guys on him, three guys or could be in a tough situation, but you know he'll find a way to get the puck through and get it to you. Obviously, have to be ready."
Brian Boyle scored on a snap shot for the 5-2 final at 9:38.
NOTES: Crosby, who has played 1,055 NHL games, joined Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Marcel Dionne, Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque and Stan Mikita as the players to have at least 400 multipoint games. Only Crosby and Jagr have not been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. … Letang has 135 goals and 465 assists in 887 NHL games. He is the eighth player to score 600 points with the Penguins, joining Lemieux (1,723), Crosby (1,342),
Evgeni Malkin
(1,104), Jagr (1,079), Rick Kehoe (636), Francis (613) and Jean Pronovost (603). … Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman did not play to attend the birth of his child. … Petry had one shot on goal and one hit in 20:26 of ice time in his return from missing four games with an upper-body injury. … Heinen had two shots on goal in his 300th NHL game. He has scored 134 points (52 goals, 82 assists) with the Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks and Penguins.