Two late goals send Habs past Penguins

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez scored in a 24-second span over the final 2:12 and the Montreal Canadiens came back for a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night, keeping the Penguins winless through two games at brand new Consol Energy Center.

Cammalleri’s second goal of the game came when he was second Montreal player to deflect a Josh Gorges shot from the right-wing boards, getting it past Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Gomez scored on the next shift, skating down the left wing and needling a shot through the pads of Fleury.

Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu scored for the Penguins, who lost the first game at only the second home arena they have known, 3-2 Thursday to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Cammalleri also scored in the first period for the Canadiens, who were playing their first game in Pittsburgh since eliminating the Penguins from the playoffs in the second round as a No. 8 seed last season.

The final game played at Mellon Arena was Montreal’s 5-2 win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Cammalleri was Montreal’s biggest weapon in that series, scoring seven goals — including the winner in Game 7.

Counting playoffs, he has scored in five consecutive games in Pittsburgh.

His goal Saturday 15:24 into the game came when he finished a pretty feed from Tomas Plekanec.

Skating with speed, Plekanec looked as if he was going to circle behind net but instead slipped a pass right out to Cammalleri in the slot. The puck was in the net before Fleury even had turned back around from facing Plekanec.

Montreal traded the star of last season’s playoff run, goalie Jaroslav Halak, in order to make room for Carey Price, a former first-round pick. Price made 36 saves.

Malkin made it 1-1 when he scored 40 seconds into the second during a 4-on-3 power play, slapping a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Sidney Crosby past Price.