TORONTO — Resilience has been one of the Canadiens’ trademarks this season and it was on display again Wednesday night as Montreal rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena.
The win gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five qualifying round series against the heavily-favoured Penguins and they have a chance to wrap it up in Game 4 Friday (4 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN-690 Radio).
Jeff Petry completed the comeback when he scored at 5:33 of the third period to snap a 3-3 tie. His shot from a sharp angle went in over Matt Murray’s right shoulder. The goal came after the Canadiens failed to score on the their fifth power play of the evening. The Canadiens are 0-for-10 on the power play in this series, but they are living up to their reputation as one of the best 5-on-5 teams in the NHL.
Carey Price turned in another solid performance, making 30 saves.
Claude Julien wanted his team to play with drive and determination and they did that for the first five minutes of the game, outshooting the Penguins 5-0 and taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by Shea Weber.
But the Montreal special teams had a meltdown, which led to the Penguins grabbing a 2-1 lead.
First, the Penguins were assessed a delay-of-game penalty when coach Mike Sullivan unsuccessfully challenged the Weber goal for goaltender interference, but the Canadiens failed to get a shot on goal with the man advantage.
Less than a minute after the teams returned to full strength, Ben Chiarot was sent off for slashing and that set in motion a 60-second stretch in which the Penguins scored two power-play goals.
Patric Hornqvist converted a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin to tie the score at 8:40. The Penguins were operating on a delayed penalty when Hornqvist scored and Weber was sent off for cross-checking. Jason Zucker gave Pittsburgh the lead with a power-play goal at 9:39.
Weber’s goal was an example of what Julien was looking for as the Canadiens put pressure on Murray. Artturi Lehkonen took the puck to the net and Murray stopped his shot, but Weber pinched in and scored on his second attempt at the rebound.
The Penguins appeared to be in control after Teddy Blueger crashed the net and scored to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead, but the Canadiens responded with two goals before the second period ended.
Jonathan Drouin finally showed up and cut the lead to 3-2. Drouin was stationed outside the crease when he deflected Chiarot’s shot along the ice. Paul Byron tied the game when he scored on a wraparound seconds after the Canadiens came up empty on their fourth power play of the night.
Julien made one lineup change, inserting Jake Evans on the fourth line in place of Jordan Weal, but the rookie from Notre Dame left the game after he was driven into the boards by Brandon Tanev in the second period.
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