Crosby scores twice to lead Penguins to 3-1 win over Canadiens

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, front right, celebrates with teammate Rickard Rakell (67) after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (Matt Freed/AP Photo)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night.

Blake Lizotte scored an empty-net goal in the final minute for Pittsburgh. Kris Letang, playing in his 1,100th regular-season game, finished with an assist against his hometown team. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots for the Penguins.

Christian Dvorak scored for Montreal and Sam Montembeault made 21 saves.

Crosby got the Penguins on the scoreboard with 4:03 remaining in the first period and then made it 2-0 on the power play with 1:20 to go in the second. He is tied with Sergei Fedorov and Joe Nieuwendyk for 14th-place on the NHL’s all-time game-winning goals list. Crosby surpassed Luc Robitaille for 13th-most even-strength goals in league history.

Crosby has four goals and seven points in his last three games. It’s the seventh time Crosby scored multiple goals in back-to-back games after he had two during a win against Anaheim on Thursday. Crosby, who has five goals this season, is three from 600 in his career.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Montreal lost its third straight game. The Canadiens allowed at least six goals in their previous two losses.

Penguins: The Penguins won their second straight following a six-game losing streak.

Key moment

Letang spun away from Nick Suzuki at the left point and flipped a backhand pass to Crosby, who sent a wrist shot that beat Montembeault to the glove side for Pittsburgh’s second goal. Crosby and Letang surpassed Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty for third-most goals by a forward-defenceman duo in NHL history.

Key stat

Letang is the first Penguins defenceman, the sixth active blueliner and 73rd in NHL history to play in 1,100 regular-season games.

Up next

Canadiens: Host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Penguins: Visit the New York Islanders on Tuesday.