The Canadiens overcame a rocky first period to ensure Pittsburgh's young guns didn't steal the show in Montreal.
Saku Koivu had two goals and an assist to lead the way in the 6-3 win at Bell Centre. Michael Ryder, Alex Kovalev, Sheldon Souray and Maxim Lapierre, with an empty-netter, also scored, as the Canadiens tallied four times on the power play.
Montreal's Francis Bouillon battles Sidney Crosby as goalie Cristobal Huet looks on in the first period on Saturday.
(Ian Barrett/Canadian Press)
"Saku's been our most consistent player all year," said Souray. "It's great to see the puck go in for him.
"He always plays good, it's just that sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't."
They've been going in a lot for Koivu, who scored a pair of goals for the fourth time in his last eight games.
"I'm more of a playmaker than a scorer, but right now the puck's going in for me," said Koivu. "I'm enjoying it. I want to keep the streak going."
Andrei Markov chipped in with three assists, while Cristobal Huet made 31 saves for the victory, Montreal's third straight. Huet held the team in the game during a first period that saw Pittsburgh outshoot the Canadiens 17-3.
Evgeni Malkin, Alain Nasreddine and Erik Christensen replied for Pittsburgh (15-12-5), who were playing their second game in as many nights. Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to eight games with one assist.
Despite an end — perhaps temporarily — to his torrid pace, Crosby is a no-brainer for the NHL's weekly First Star, having recorded three goals and 10 assists in four games this week.
Guy Carbonneau credited the line of Radek Bonk, Mike Johnson and Alexander Perezhogin for ensuring there wasn't too much wizardry from the 19-year-old phenom.
"That line was a big reason why Crosby didn't have a big night," Carbonneau said.
Marc-Andre Fleury took the loss for Pittsburgh, finishing with 27 saves.
Malkin opened the scoring midway through the first with his 16th goal, tops for all league rookies. The 20-year-old started the play with a drop pass to Christensen, whose shot led to a juicy rebound from Huet that was easily converted.
Ryder, who also had two assists on the night, evened things up late in the first with a bullet shot over Fleury's glove on the power play.
It was a measure of Crosby's pinpoint passing that Nasreddine was able to garner his first NHL point in 31 games in the league. Nasreddine celebrated wildly after converting a cross-ice feed at 19:59 that Huet had no chance on.
Fell apart in second
Still, the close score didn't reflect the play and would prove costly for the Penguins, as they completely fell apart in the second.
"I don't want to use it as an excuse but it was our fourth game in six days," said Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien. "We had a good start, but as the game went on we seemed to lose our focus."
Montreal (18-8-5) would score three goals on four penalties, beginning with Kovalev's one-timer of a Markov pass.
With just under five minutes left in the middle frame, Koivu fought off Colby Armstrong in the slot to shoot the puck over Fleury's glove for Montreal's first lead of the game.
The Habs would score two more before the period was up, each power-play goals set up by Markov at the point. Souray's slapshot goal was followed 2:30 later by Koivu's second of the game.
"You can't allow four power play goals and expect to win," said Mark Recchi. "We knew they had great special teams and they were the difference in this game."
Kovalev's bid for a second goal was denied early in the third by a great glove save by Fleury on a breakaway. Christensen, who had two points on the night, got Pittsburgh closer late in the contest.
Research in Motion chief Jim Balsillie, who on Friday withdrew his $175 million US offer to buy the Penguins, was in attendance at the Bell Centre on Saturday.
Montreal will travel to Buffalo for its next game on Tuesday.
with files from the Canadian Press
