Crosby has highlight goal, notches 700th assist

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby ignited a rally with a highlightreel goal and became the third active player with 700 assists in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

Crosby scored his 24th goal when he knocked a pass from Jake Guentzel out of the air, deflected it toward the front of his stick and smacked it by Carey Price to tie it at 3 late in the second period.

Derick Brassard put the Penguins in front to stay, beating Price early in the third.

Guentzel had a goal and two assists. His 21st goal of the season came off an assist from Crosby, the 700th of Crosby’s career.

Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist also scored, and Casey DeSmith made 27 saves.

COYOTES 4, SABRES 1: Clayton Keller had two assists to break Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby makes a pass out of the corner with Montreal Canadiens’ Mike Reilly defending during the second period Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

the Arizona record for points by a rookie in the Coyotes’ victory over Buffalo in a matchup of the NHL’s two worst teams. Rookie Dylan Strome scored in his first game after being called up from the minors. Derek Stepan had a goal and assist, and Richard Panik and Max Domi, with an emptynetter, also scored. Antti Raanta stopped 29 shots to improve to 12-4-4 in his

past 20 starts. Keller, Arizona’s 2016 first-round draft pick, extended his points streak to six games, in which he has two goals and five assists. He has 55 points, one more than Peter Mueller had in setting the rookie team record in 2007-08. And Keller has 35 assists, one more than teammate Max Domi had in his rookie season two years ago.

BLUES 2, BRUINS 1, OT: Jaden Schwartz scored his second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a over the Boston Bruins. Schwartz skated up the middle and fired a shot past Anton Khudobin. The Blues won for the fifth time in six games to move within a point of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.