Canadiens fall 6-5 in overtime as Novak completes Penguins escape

The Montreal Canadiens staged a dramatic comeback but left Pittsburgh with only one point, falling 6-5 in overtime to the Penguins on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. Tommy Novak ended the contest at 1:33 of the extra frame, finishing a two-on-one rush set up by Evgeni Malkin for his second goal of the game.

Canadiens surrender five straight, then claw back

Montreal put itself in a deep hole by allowing five unanswered goals, four of them in the second period, as defensive lapses and penalties tilted the game toward Pittsburgh. The Penguins went 2-for-4 on the power play while the Canadiens went 0-for-2 with the man advantage, a special-teams gap that loomed large in such a high-scoring night.

Cole Caufield opened the scoring in the first period, beating Arturs Silovs with a precise shot on the blocker side. Pittsburgh responded while shorthanded, however, as Malkin pounced on a rebound off a Kristopher Letang drive to tie the game with Mike Matheson in the penalty box.

The second period began badly for Montreal. Just 32 seconds in, Declan Carlile cut into the slot and beat Jakub Dobes on the glove side to give the Penguins their first lead. Samuel Girard later pushed the puck over the line on a rebound from a long Kaedan Koczak shot, and Novak followed up by converting a two-on-one after a Matheson turnover.

Ben Kindel then redirected an Erik Karlsson point shot on the power play after the Canadiens were penalized for too many men, stretching the margin to 5-1. Nick Suzuki provided a spark late in the frame, scoring his first goal of the season during four-on-four play to make it 5-2 heading into the third.

Caufield cut the deficit further early in the final period with his second of the night. The Penguins briefly appeared to restore their cushion when Egor Chinakhov scored following an extended shift in the Montreal zone, but the goal was wiped out on a coach’s challenge for offside at the blue line, keeping the door open for the visitors.

Suzuki drives offence; Carrier injury clouds night

Suzuki was at the heart of the Canadiens’ attack, finishing with one goal and three assists and factoring in on the team’s late push. Caufield’s two goals paced the scoring, while Chris Kreider chipped in a goal and an assist and Ivan Demidov also found the back of the net. From the back end, Lane Hutson picked up three assists, repeatedly jump-starting Montreal’s transition game.

Dobes made 24 saves in the loss, facing a steady barrage through the first two periods. At the other end, Silovs turned aside 20 shots, including breakaway stops on Josh Anderson, Jake Evans and Suzuki that helped preserve Pittsburgh’s lead before the Canadiens’ late surge.

With Dobes pulled for an extra attacker in the final minutes, Montreal made things even more tense. Kreider scored with 1:08 remaining off a Suzuki feed to bring the Canadiens within one, and Demidov tied it with 44 seconds left, again set up by the captain. Overtime proved costly, though, as a poor Montreal line change opened the ice for Novak’s winner.

The game also delivered an injury concern for the Canadiens. Defenceman Alexandre Carrier left early in the second period after being pushed into the boards by Chinakhov, and the team offered no immediate update on his condition. Montreal, now 1-0-1 on the season, returns home to prepare for its Bell Centre opener on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, while the Penguins improve to 2-0-0.