Tommy Novak scored his second goal of the evening 1:33 into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
Montreal grabbed an early edge when Cole Caufield converted a wrist shot at 3:49 of the opening period. Pittsburgh countered late in the frame on a backhand tally by Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins seized control with four consecutive goals in the second period, as Declan Carlile and Samuel Girard each scored with wrist shots before Novak added another at 14:01. Ben Kindel tipped in a puck 91 seconds later to extend the home team's lead to 5-1.
The Canadiens started chipping away when Nick Suzuki scored on a backhand with 1:14 left in the middle period. Caufield added his second wrist-shot goal of the night early in the third, and Montreal completed the comeback in the final two minutes. Chris Kreider scored with a wrist shot at 18:52, and Ivan Demidov tied the game on a snap shot 24 seconds later. Novak ended the contest in the extra session on a wrist shot set up by Malkin and Kris Letang.
Pittsburgh finished 2 for 4 on the power play, while Montreal failed to convert on two opportunities with the man advantage. Arturs Silovs earned the win in net for the Penguins, stopping 20 of 25 shots. Jakub Dobes took the overtime loss for the Canadiens, finishing with 24 saves on 30 shots as Pittsburgh produced a 30-25 edge in total shots on goal.
Novak produced three points with two goals and an assist, and Malkin also collected three points with a goal and two helpers. Suzuki led Montreal with four points on one goal and three assists, while Lane Hutson registered three assists. The outcome pushed Pittsburgh's record to 2-0-0 with two straight wins to begin the season, while Montreal moved to 1-0-1.
The Penguins will visit the Utah Mammoth on Monday, October 19. Montreal returns home to host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, October 20.
