Tanev’s overtime goal gives Penguins a 3-2 victory in Montreal
MONTREAL — The Penguins poured over the boards Saturday night at Bell Centre, streaming across the ice in a blur of gold and black.
They formed one big, celebratory blob in the corner of the ice. Sticks were raised. Helmets slapped. Smiles all around.
Somewhere in the middle of all of it was Brandon Tanev. The speedy winger, affectionately nicknamed “Turbo” by his teammates, followed up a shot by Teddy Blueger. As he tumbled to the ice, Tanev did just enough to elevate the rebound over outstretched Montreal goalie
Carey Price for the game-winner, as the Penguins beat the Canadiens in overtime, 3-2.
“Teddy made a hell of a play to take the puck to the net,” Tanev said. “I was fortunate enough to find the rebound.”
The goal — along with a solid, 26-save performance from goalie Matt Murray, another clutch goal from Bryan Rust and some additional production from Tanev’s linemate, Zach Aston-Reese — helped the Penguins improve to 25-11-5 at the midpoint in the season. Now, after about
seven weeks without captain Sidney Crosby, the Penguins continue to build momentum and gain traction in the standings.
This game followed the same script as many of those wins. The Penguins fell behind on two different occasions and never led until Tanev scored the game-winner. But they still walked out of an opponent’s arena with two points.
“The resiliency is phenomenal in this group,” Tanev said. “That starts with our leadership. They do a great job in getting us ready for the game. It’s a full 60-minute effort by a great group of guys in here.”
Or sometimes, more than 60 minutes.
It started when the Canadiens took a 1-0 lead just under nine minutes into the game. Max Domi made a creative, behindthe-back feed to Artturi Lehkonen in the slot. He wristed the puck past Murray, who was making his first start of the new year and just his fourth appearance since the end of November.
But just 46 seconds after the first goal, the Penguins had the response. The Canadiens lost track of their defensive responsibilities. Blueger found Aston-Reese all alone as he entered the zone. Aston-Reese snapped a wrist shot over Price’s blocker side to tie the score at 1-1.
The Aston-Reese goal early and the Tanev goal late show just a little bit why Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has kept the trio of Aston-Reese, Blueger and Tanev together for a significant chunk of the season.
“They have a unique identity for this team,” Sullivan said. “They get a lot of defensive zone starts. They play a lot against the other team’s top players. They check hard. And they have an offensive dimension to their game.”
Still, the Penguins entered the third period in a familiar place … trailing.
The Canadiens took a 21 lead less than four minutes into the second period. Out of the corner, Kris Letang tossed the puck in front of his own net. It was easily picked off by Lehkonen. He beat Murray on the short side for his second goal of the game.
The situation was nothing new. The Penguins have often found themselves looking for a goal in the third period to tie the score or win it.
“One of the things we said to them going into the third was let’s not open it up and play a highrisk game,” Sullivan said. “We’re one shot away from getting the tying goal. It may take us 15 minutes to get it. Eighteen minutes to get it. It may take us five minutes to get it. But we just have to continue to play the game that’s bringing us success.”
As it turned out, it took about 5½ minutes to get it.
Defenseman Jack Johnson fired a shot from the point. It ricocheted off the boards behind the net. Rust used his speed to chase down the rebound and beat Price, trying the score at 2-2.
“We had a really good [offensive] zone shift,” Rust said. “Jack let a bomb go from the point. I think Geno tipped it wide. I saw Price was out challenging, being a little aggressive. I just tried to beat him to the far post.”
Murray had to make several strong saves down the stretch. The best of them came on a breakaway attempt from Lehkonen. But rather than a hat trick in Bell Centre, it was an overtime celebration in black and gold.
The Penguins will be back in action at 5 p.m. Sunday at PPG Paints Arenaagainst the Florida Panthers.