Canadiens 3, Penguins 2
Max Pacioretty scored twice as host Montreal held on to win its third straight game.
Tomas Plekanec added his first goal in 12 contests and Carey Price made 29 saves for the Canadiens.
James Neal scored both goals for Pittsburgh, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. Evgeni Malkin set up both of Neal’s tallies and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots.
Pacioretty intercepted a pass by Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta in the neutral zone and beat Fleury with a wrist shot from the high slot 1:53 into the second period. Montreal scored twice in the opening 2:25 of the third, with Plekanec sliding a shot between Fleury’s pads and Pacioretty adding his second of the contest.
Neal got the Penguins on the board with the man advantage, firing a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle 5:44 into the third. He added another with 2:53 remaining when he finished a great end-to-end rush by Malkin, who crashed hard into the end boards on the play and was shaken up but returned to finish the game.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh’s comeback attempt fell short when Neal was called for hooking in the final 10 seconds of the contest. … Montreal won for the second time in eight games against Pittsburgh. … Neal has nine points in eight games since returning from an upper-body injury. … Pacioretty has five goals in the last three games after failing to score in eight.