Penguins aim to put a stop to 7-game rut at Canadiens

The Pittsburgh Penguins are reeling going into their road game against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

The Penguins lost their seventh straight (0-3-4), 4-0 to the host Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

"We're going to have to grind it out," Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang said. "Try to play a team game. Obviously, right now, it's not a great feeling, but we have to stick together and battle it out."

The Penguins last won Dec. 4 when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on the road. The rough stretch has included blowing consecutive third-period leads that prompted overtime losses to San Jose and Utah.

Arturs Silovs made 22 saves in the loss to the Senators on Thursday.

"I think we've got to be a little bit tighter," captain Sidney Crosby said. "You look at the chances we got, we had to earn them. I just think that we've got to be a little bit tighter as far as not giving up quality chances. ‘Arty' made some saves to keep us in it and we weren't able to get back in the game."

Crosby has 1,722 points (644 goals, 1,078 assists), which is one shy of Mario Lemieux's franchise record and eighth place all-time on the NHL career points list.

Crosby has 19 goals and 35 points in 33 games this season, but only one assist in the last three games.

Saturday will mark the Penguins' first game following Friday's announcement that Fenway Investment Group completed its sale of the franchise to the Chicago-based Hoffmann Family of Companies.

The Canadiens are 3-1-1 in their last five after Thursday's 4-1 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

Zachary Bolduc had two goals and defenseman Lane Hutson three assists for Montreal.

"I think we stood up as a team and showed that we had character," Bolduc said.

The win came despite three challenges during the game, two by Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill that erased apparent Montreal goals.

"That's a first, for sure, but we're glad we were just on the right side of it once and we found a way to win," Hutson said.

Bolduc tied it 1-1 with 5:37 left in the first period with his first goal at home this season and then put the Canadiens ahead for good 20 seconds into the third period.

He has nine goals for the season.

"It's super special," Bolduc said. "I mean, it took me 19 (home) games, so a lot of work behind that. But I'm super happy to share that moment with my parents that are here (Thursday). My whole family's here, one of my best friends is here, too, so I'm super happy."

"He's got a great shot," Hutson said. "He's had some great looks at home, and it's good to see him finally get rewarded."

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, defenseman Noah Dobson also scored and Jakub Dobes only had to stop 14 shots.

Dobes' 12 wins ties him with the San Jose Sharks' Yaroslav Askorov for the most wins by a rookie goaltender this season.

The teams met in Pittsburgh on Dec. 11 earlier in the Penguins' current skid. Montreal rang up an early 3-0 lead en route to a 4-2 win; Cole Caufield scored his team-high 17th goal that night.

--Field Level Media