Pens fall to Canadiens in shootout

Associated Press

MONTREAL

Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin scored in the shootout as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Saturday night.

Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist, and Brendan Gallagher had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Antti Niemi stopped 25 shots through overtime in his first start of the season.

Dominik Simon, Kris Letang and Phil Kessel scored in regulation for the Penguins, and Casey DeSmith had 37 saves through overtime.

After Byron and Drouin both beat DeSmith blocker side in the shootout, Sidney Crosby had to score for Pittsburgh to send it to the third round but he hit the outside of the post.

The Canadiens beat the Penguins for the second time in eight days, winning 5-1 in Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Simon and Letang scored in the first period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Daniel Sprong fed Simon in front of the goal with a one-handed scoop pass and the 24-year-old beat Niemi on the backhand at 3:13. Letang doubled Pittsburgh’s lead with 4:44 left with a shot on Niemi’s blocker side.

The Canadiens came out buzzing in the second period, scoring three straight goals before Kessel tied it again. Montreal outshot Pittsburgh 19-4 in the second.

Just 11 seconds into the middle period, Tatar beat Letang to a loose puck in front of the net, then fired past DeSmith for his first in a Canadiens uniform.

Gallagher tied it 2-2 at 7:38 after jumping on a rebound of Jeff Petry’s point shot.

Tatar got his second of the game, on the power play, by firing the puck off DeSmith and in from the side of the net at 8:51 to push Montreal ahead.

With the Pens on a man advantage, Kessel made it 3-3 from the slot at 11:14.

Montreal failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:49 to end the second period.