Kris Letang Dominates in Penguins Win Over Canadians

PITTSBURGH – Things are getting critical for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they enter game three of a four-game homestand, still multiple wins out of a playoff spot. The next test for the Penguins would be a youthful Montreal Canadiens team who enter on the second half of a back-to-back situation.

Noel Acciari returned to the Penguins’ lineup, and Colin White swapped locker rooms hours before puck drop.

First Period

The Canadiens kicked off the game by mounting pressure in the early minutes, but Tristan Jarry stopped everything he faced. By the time the Penguins generated their first sustained zone time, they were already behind 5-0 in shots on net.

Kris Letang has been playing great hockey this season but was responsible for a brutal turnover that put the Canadiens on the board first. Letang created a turnover but immediately failed and turned the puck back over to former Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson. A wide-open opportunity for Matheson ended with the Canadiens taking a 1-0 lead.

Letang thought he had Sidney Crosby breaking, but Matheson played a wise pinch to steal the breakout pass.

While Letang put the Penguins in an early hole, he helped them climb out of it with a quick answer. Letang released a harmless puck toward the Canadiens' net that missed everything until hitting the back of the net.

It’s only appropriate that Letang makes up for his early gaffe with a huge tally, all while fans in the stands were treated to his bobblehead giveaway.

That was the only scoring in the period from either team as the first intermission arrived with a 1-1 tie.

Second Period

The Penguins' power play has been a complete tire fire recently, but on their first man advantage opportunity of the night proved to be huge. Just seconds into the chance, Erik Karlsson put a shot on net that Bryan Rust deflected.