Music: {allcanada} Pittsburgh (13-6-4) at Montreal (10-10-3)

Friday, November 25, 2011

{allcanada} Pittsburgh (13-6-4) at Montreal (10-10-3)

Pittsburgh (13-6-4) at Montreal (10-10-3)

TV: CBC, RDS

Puck Drop: 7:00 pm EST Sat Nov 26, 2011

Now it's time for Sidney Crosby (notes) to go on the road.

Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will begin what should be an entertaining four-game trip Saturday night when they face the Montreal Canadiens.

The Penguins superstar has seven points in three home games this week in his return after missing nearly a year with post-concussion symptoms. All of his three assists Friday came in the first period as Pittsburgh (13-6-4) built a three-goal lead and cruised to a 6-3 victory over Ottawa.

"I had some good chances tonight that hopefully will go in eventually," said Crosby, who has failed to score a goal in his last seven games at Bell Centre. "But yeah, the chances are there, that's what we want."

What's also notable about Crosby's play is that he has eight penalty minutes and has not shied away from contact. He mixed it up with Ottawa's Nick Foligno (notes) early in the third period, the start of a brief dust-up in which they exchanged a couple of punches.

The big lead allowed the Penguins to experiment with the lines. Crosby played alongside Evgeni Malkin (notes) and Jordan Staal (notes) for one shift, failing to produce a goal but providing plenty of opportunities.

"We play one shift, it's three terrors, we surprised them," Malkin said. "We never played (together before) and had good chances to score. I like it. It two great offensive guys who can control the puck and make passes."

Neither Crosby nor Malkin played when Pittsburgh defeated Montreal (10-10-3) 3-1 on Oct. 20 in the first meeting this season. Marc-Andre Fleury (notes) made 27 saves, improving to 7-3-0 with a 2.39 goals-against average in his last 10 starts against the Canadiens.

The goalie is enjoying playing even more now that Pittsburgh has its stars back.

"I'm glad they're on my team," said Fleury, who stopped 24 shots in Friday's win. "Those guys are so skilled, so talented, they work hard at it and it's fun for them it's paying off for them."

Fleury has started the first game and Brent Johnson (notes) the second in Pittsburgh's first three sets of back-to-back games. Johnson is 0-4-1 with a 3.35 GAA in five starts against Montreal.

Pittsburgh will also face the Rangers, Capitals and Hurricanes on its trip that begins with this matchup of two of the best penalty-killing units in the NHL. The Penguins rank second in the league at 90.8 percent and the Canadiens third at 90.3.

Montreal has killed off 40 straight power-play chances entering this contest, but the Canadiens' power play came up empty on five attempts and proved to be their undoing in Friday's 3-1 loss at Philadelphia.

"Our power play gave them momentum," coach Jacques Martin told the Canadiens' official website. "We weren't able to create scoring chances."

Carey Price (notes) has started both games in two of Montreal's first three sets of back-to-back contests. The Canadiens will have a degree of extra rest since Friday's defeat was played in the afternoon, so Price could be back in goal to resume his stellar home form.

Price had posted back-to-back home shutouts before making 17 saves but getting outdueled by Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas (notes) in Monday's 1-0 loss to Boston.