Penguins 3, Canadiens 1
MONTREAL -- Right winger Bryan Rust scored his first goal of the season to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Right winger Patric Hornqvist and center Eric Fehr also scored for Pittsburgh (20-16-5), which snapped a two-game losing streak.
Defenseman P.K. Subban scored for Montreal.
Goaltender Mike Condon made 29 saves for the Canadiens (23-17-3), who have not strung together consecutive wins since Nov. 25 and 27. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 32 shots for the Penguins.
The Penguins took control in the first period, outshooting Montreal 12-5 and out-attempting the home side 24-10. But Condon withstood Pittsburgh's push, denying Sidney Crosby early while closing out the period with a big stop on Evgeni Malkin.
Pittsburgh finally broke through at 7:18 of the second, just 12 seconds into a power play. Malkin, along the right wall, picked up the puck just above the goal line and sent it behind the net to right winger Phil Kessel in the opposite corner. Kessel quickly dished off to Hornqvist who, untouched in front, with a slight deke put it behind Condon.
Subban's second of the season tied the game at 10:39. Center Tomas Plekanec won the face-off and got the puck back to defenseman Andrei Markov, who fed Subban at the point. The Canadiens' blue-liner wasted little time in ripping his patented slap shot through a sea of bodies past Fleury, for his first goal since Oct. 24.
A defensive miscue by Montreal set the table for the Penguins' to restore their lead. Defenseman Greg Pateryn went out of position for a hit on center Nick Bonino, carrying the puck, at the Canadiens' blue line. Bonino got the disc over to Rust, who skated in alone before firing it past Condon at 14:12.
Pittsburgh had a chance to add to its lead midway through the third on another power play when Crosby had the puck on his stick to the side of the net, but Condon was quick with the glove to deny the Penguins' captain.
Fehr completed the scoring with a shorthanded tally into an empty net.
NOTES: The Penguins scratched LW Sergei Plotnikov and David Warsofsky, while D Adam Clendening remained in the AHL on a conditioning stint. ... Called up from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, RW Tom Kuhnhackl made his NHL debut, becoming the fifth player to do so for Pittsburgh this season. ... Montreal D Jeff Petry missed the game with a lower-body injury and was replaced by D Greg Pateryn. ... The Canadiens scratched D Jarred Tinordi and LW Tomas Fleischmann. ... The game was the 41st on Pittsburgh's schedule, marking the team's official mid-point of the season. ... Saturday's contest was the third and final regular-season meeting between the Canadiens and Pittsburgh, who last faced off Nov. 11.