Penguins Stretch Win Streak to Five Games

WHAT HAPPENED
The Penguins earned their fifth straight win with a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Kasperi Kapanen, Evan Rodrigues, Mike Matheson, Brian Dumoulin and Brian Boyle all scored for Pittsburgh, while Tristan Jarry made 26 saves.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Most of tonight's offense for the Penguins started and ended with Evan Rodrigues, as he factored into Pittsburgh's first three goals.
"I've said it time and time again, it's just opportunity and confidence," Rodrigues said. "I got off to a pretty good start, early in the year I got a lot of opportunity to play. Playing center gave me a lot of puck touches, and I think the more plays you make, the more confident you get."
The versatile forward, who has most recently been playing wing on the top line with Sidney Crosby, started by picking up an unconventional redirect assist on Kasperi Kapanen's goal. The puck bounced off his foot before Kapanen bunted it past Jake Allen.
Rodrigues' own goal was next. On the Penguins' fourth power play of the night, Rodrigues received a set-up pass from Kris Letang and blasted it home to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 2-0. Rodrigues mentioned how his one-timer is in a good place, and it showed on this shot.
"After practice taking a lot of them, you start to feel comfortable and feel confident in it, and I think I've just got to continue to shoot," he said. "Some will go in, some won't, I am just trying to continue to let them rip and they'll find their way in the back of the net.
Mike Sullivan also expressed praise for the forward's work ethic, as Rodrigues is having a career year. His nine goals tie his career high, originally recorded in 2018-19 with Buffalo, and rank second on the Penguins (Jake Guentzel, 15). He's also surpassed the 20-point plateau for the third time in his career, and first time since 2018-19 (29 PTS in 74 GP) with Buffalo.
"I just think he's a good player, and he's executing. He's making plays, he's on the puck, he's making good decisions, he's been solid defensively on the other side of the puck," Sullivan said. "No matter what position we've put him in, he's thrived, and that's a credit to his work ethic, his preparation process… I think opportunity is one thing and taking advantage of it is another, and that's what E-Rod has done for me."
He later added an assist on Mike Matheson's goal in the second period. While the Canadiens scored with just three seconds left in the middle frame to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 3-2, the Penguins regrouped and responded by getting on the board 28 seconds into the third. Though the Canadiens pressed hard in the final 20 minutes, outshooting the Penguins 15-5, Pittsburgh came away with the victory. They are now 10-2-1 in their past 13 games in addition to their five-game win streak.
"I think we rely a lot on our work ethic. I think that's one thing you've seen - we check really well, we have speed and when we play that way, we're tough to play against," Crosby said. "We don't give up a lot. For that reason, it translates into wins. If we're not playing like that, things change pretty quickly. It's good to get rewarded for playing the way we feel can give us success, but there's also been some times we've gotten away from that and we're a much different team.
"So I think just building on that and having the confidence to know that if we're playing the right way, we give ourselves a good chance. That's probably the biggest takeaway, I think."
OTHER THOUGHTS, MUSINGS AND OBSERVATIONS
-LETANG, CROSBY HIT MILESTONES
Letang's assist on Rodrigues' goal was his 600th career point, becoming the 42nd defenseman to do so and the seventh active defenseman to reach the mark. In addition, Letang sits just three points away from tying Jean Pronovost for seventh all-time in Penguins history. The assist was his 30th career point against his hometown team.
Sidney Crosby also added yet another milestone to his already stacked resume, becoming the 14th player in NHL history to record 400 multi-point games with his two helpers tonight.
"I think it's a number of things, for me, the first thing is obvious and it's that they're really talented hockey players," Sullivan said when asked about their success and longevity. "It's more than that. These guys are elite players, but they're also high-character people who are extremely driven and they're motivated to win and they're hungry. For as much success as they've had at this point in their careers, they're not satisfied... they just have an insatiable appetite to win, and they're willing to put the work in to get it done.
"I haven't been around two guys in Sid and Tanger that have the willingness and drive to put the time in both on the ice and off the ice to try to help their games be at their best and continue to be at their best, and I think that's the reason for their longevity."
PENALTY KILLIN' IT
The Penguins continue to be strong in shorthanded situations. With their perfect 2-for-2 mark on the night, they have now killed 32 straight penalties.
They have not allowed a power-play goal in 14 straight games, the longest mark in franchise history, solidifying their mark as the top-ranked PK in the league.