Penguins Hab Not, Fall to Montreal, 6-3

Yes, the dreaded PenguinPoop curse is alive and well. No sooner do I write in my prior game summary that I’m really impressed with the Penguins new-found discipline and structure than both go out the window in a sloppy, slipshod, run-and-gun-fest 6-3 loss to Montreal. A team that doesn’t exactly represent the NHL elite if you get my drift.

Oh well. As the old saying goes, you can’t win ‘em all.

To be fair, Jake Allen played a superb game between the pipes for the Canadiens, stopping 47 of the 50 shots he faced. However, an old Pens bugaboo…weak defensive-zone coverage down low…reared its ugly head, along with poor puck management and faulty decision-making.

The “nothing to see here” first period gave no hint of the craziness that was to follow, as Allen and his black-and-gold counterpart Casey DeSmith were airtight in net. In fact, the contest remained scoreless until 15:34 of the second frame. That’s when Sidney Crosby’s attempted pass to Kris Letang at the left point missed by a country mile, sending Jonathan Drouin streaking in on a breakaway. Drouin beat DeSmith five-hole. Advantage Les Habitants.

However, Artturi Lehkonen dumped Brock McGinn early the final period and the power play went to work. Making amends for his earlier gaffe, Sid set up Evan Rodrigues in the slot and E-Rod did the rest, going top shelf on Allen to knot the score at 1-1.

The goal had barely been announced when the Canadiens struck on the ensuing shift. With the Pens’ top tandem of Brian Dumoulin and Letang flooding one side, Sami Niku slipped a pass to a ridiculously wide-open Christian Dvorak in the slot. Close enough to be wearing DeSmith’s underwear, Dvorak easily beat Casey stick side to restore Montreal’s lead.

Three minutes later the Habs struck again. Quicker than you could say “dirty goal,” Lehkonen invaded the slot, outworked Chad Ruhwedel and Mike Matheson, and banged the biscuit past DeSmith. And so concluded the “normal” part of the proceedings with the Habs up 3-1.

With less than three minutes to play and DeSmith parked on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Jeff Carter rambled into the slot and scored courtesy of an unconscious no-look feed from Kasperi Kapanen, closing the gap to 3-2. But Montreal quickly countered. Big Josh Anderson did the honors, winning a battle against Crosby in the Pens’ crease and whacking the rubber into our empty net.

Again, the Pens closed to within a goal, as Sid dropped to a knee to convert on a crisp pass from Kapanen at 18:50. Anderson again restored Montreal’s two-goal edge when he was awarded a goal after being tripped by Letang on yet another breakaway. Tyler Toffoli concluded the empty-net fest at 19:23, splitting the locals’ net from long range.

Puckpourri

From a stats standpoint, the Pens dominated. We outshot the Canadiens, 50-33, and won 56 percent of the draws. We outchanced them, 44-29, and held a slight edge in high-danger chances, 16-15.

The Crosby-Jake Guentzel-Rodrigues line was strong in terms of Corsi (72.09). The Carter-Jason Zucker-Kapanen trio broke even, while the “Grind Line” of Teddy Blueger, McGinn and Zach Aston-Reese was heavily underwater (30.77).

With a goal, two assists and five shots on goal, Sid enjoyed a breakout game. Carter (1+1) and Kapanen (a pair of helpers) each tallied two points. Rodrigues unleashed a staggering 12 shots on goal and earned third-star honors. E-Rod’s goal, his eight of the season, tied him with Guentzel for the team lead. Jake extended his points streak to nine games.

Dumoulin and Letang blocked a combined seven shots but were a collective minus-five. Bryan Rust missed his second-straight game with a lower body injury.

The Pens (10-7-4, 24 points) kept pace with Columbus, who lost to St. Louis by an identical 6-3 score. The clubs remain tied for fourth in the Metro. Next up, a brutal swing through western Canada, starting with Calgary on Monday night.

DiLemma

You’d be hard-pressed to pin the loss on DeSmith. He made 28 saves, many of the high-danger variety. The three goals he allowed all resulted from glaring defensive breakdowns.

Yet, going back to last April 3, spanning his last 10 appearances, Casey simply hasn’t been very good. During that time he’s registered an unsightly 4.33 goals against average and equally porous .867 save percentage. Worse yet, we’re 2-7-1 in those games.

His fault or not, we simply can’t continue to bleed off points when DeSmith plays. It’s time to try Louis Domingue in a backup role. His size (6’3″ 208) is favorable to Casey’s, for one. And he’s posted a solid 2.54 goals against and .922 save percentage in nine games with the Baby Pens.