Canadiens 3, Penguins 2
MONTREAL -- Montreal left winger Max Pacioretty scored twice and goalie Carey Price made 29 saves as the Canadiens held on to end the Pittsburgh Penguins' four-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory Saturday night.
Center Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal, which won its third in a row.
It was the Canadiens' second win in as many nights against the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division, including a 3-2 win Friday in Washington against the second-place Capitals.
Pittsburgh left winger James Neal scored twice, including his third goal on a power play 5:44 into the third period to ruin Price's shutout bid and draw the Penguins to within 3-1.
Right wing Evgeni Malkin made a spectacular rush up the ice to set up Neal's second goal at 17:53 that cut the lead to one. Neal finished off the play for his fourth goal while Malkin slid heavily into the end boards.
Malkin was shaken up on the play but went back to Pittsburgh's bench and remained in the game.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 of 29 shots for the Penguins, who lost to Montreal in regulation for the first time in their past eight encounters (6-1-1).
Pacioretty has five goals in his past three games, including a natural hat trick in a 6-2 win against Minnesota on Tuesday after he scored twice through his first 12 games of the season.
Pacioretty opened the scoring with an unassisted effort 1:53 into the second. He cut off Penguins rookie defenseman Olli Maatta's pass from Pittsburgh's end in the neutral zone. The Montreal forward carried the puck over the blue line and put a wrist shot from the high slot past Fleury's glove for his sixth goal.
Plekanec made it 2-0 with his seventh goal 1:05 into the third, and Pacioretty increased the Canadiens' lead to 3-0 with his second of the game, his seventh, at 2:25.
Price, who was rested Friday, was sharp in the first when he stopped 12 shots.
Right winger Ryan White had the Canadiens' best scoring chances in the opening period, including a shot on a 2-on-1 with left winger Travis Moen that Fleury denied with a big glove save.
NOTES: Penguins RW Beau Bennett did not travel with the team to Montreal because of an undisclosed injury. Bennett left in the third period of Pittsburgh's 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Friday. ... Pittsburgh entered its only game at Bell Centre this season yet to have a 5-on-3 power play through its first 23 games. ... Penguins D Kris Letang played his 400th regular season game. ... Canadiens D Douglas Murray did not dress for the third time in four games. Murray, who signed a one-year, $1.5-million contract with Montreal on Aug. 22, has no points in 10 games this season. He played 14 games with Pittsburgh last season after he was acquired in a March 25 trade with San Jose, and 15 more for the Penguins in the playoffs. ... Montreal LW Rene Bourque missed his third game in a row because of a lower-body injury. ... Canadiens RW George Parros was left out of the lineup for a seventh straight game.
