The Canadiens and the Penguins both had hot starts to the 2025-26 NHL season, but both teams have stumbled since then. The Penguins continue to miss Evgeni Malkin, and the Habs are still without Kaiden Guhle, Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook. For Saturday’s tangle at the Bell Centre, the home team was at least able to welcome Mike Matheson back to the lineup.
Matheson indeed made an impact, as did rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler, but it was a complete-game team effort that earned the bleu blanc et rouge the 4-0 victory. The third period skewed the shot totals somewhat, but there was little doubt that the Canadiens earned this victory. Can they repeat the performance tomorrow night in Pittsburgh? That will be another question.
Starting Lines
Caufield- Suzuki – Bolduc
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Anderson – Beck – Texier
Veleno – Evans – Gallagher
Matheson – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Xhekaj – Engstrom
Fowler
Dobes
10 Thoughts
1) It was the twelfth Penguins visit to the Bell Centre since the last Canadiens regulation victory against them. Maybe Martin St-Louis had mentioned this fact in his pregame pep talk, or maybe the players were just determined to give the fans a win after three consecutive Saturday night losses. Either way, they started the play with energy and speed.
2) The early enthusiasm was great, but it got a little bit out of hand, as Arber Xhekaj hit Rutger McGroarty in the numbers and was sent off for a two-minute boarding penalty. Montreal’s penalty kill was excellent, though, aggressively clearing the zone and creating better scoring chances than the Pittsburgh power play was able to generate. Anderson had the best chance on a breakaway but could not beat Stuart Skinner.
3) The Habs got their opportunity with four minutes left in the first period, as Kevin Hayes was called for tripping Joe Veleno. The top unit’s passes are as crisp as ever, but there seems to be an increased urgency to shoot, rather than just passing the puck around and waiting for the perfect scoring chance. It paid off, as Juraj Slafkovsky slammed home a Cole Caufield pass while standing in the high slot to draw first blood in this game.
4) That was not all for the first period, as Lane Hutson stripped the puck from Rickard Rakell and gave it to Brendan Gallagher. The veteran winger then sent Owen Beck off on his own breakaway along the left-side boards with just over a minute remaining. The rookie centre made no mistake, first undressing Parker Wotherspoon and then snapping a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Skinner into the far top corner of the net. This one wasn’t getting called back, and Beck finally had his first NHL goal–and the Habs had a 2-0 lead, going into the first intermission.
5) The second period was much more tentative, and by the midway point, the teams had combined for only three shots, as both looked for a scoring chance without risking defensive breakdowns. And, by the end of the period, it was still only five aside.
6) Nick Suzuki had a bit of bad luck on a clearing lob from the Montreal zone 11 minutes into the period, as the puck cleared the glass with no deflection or contact with the glass, sending the captain to the sin bin for a delay-of-game penalty. The penalty kill was strong again, however, with only one shot during the two-minute man-advantage for the visitors. That, though, was after Matheson’s stick broke–he did get a stick from Veleno–and Alexandre Carrier cleared the zone to relieve the pressure. After that, Oliver Kapanen stripped the puck from Bryan Rust and sent the puck forward to Josh Anderson, who made no mistake on his breakaway, beating Skinner and making it a three-goal lead.
7) The Penguins finally came alive in the third period, and pushed hard on the Habs, outshooting them 17-6 in the period. That number is a bit misleading, though, as it includes seven shots on Jacob Fowler during a power play, and four more with the Pittsburgh net empty. Overall, though, it was the Penguins’ period, but to the Habs’ credit, they did not just sit back and turtle or play rope-a-dope. Matheson’s presence certainly helped to stabilize the defence.
8) Lane Hutson was sent off–in the last of only four penalties called in the game–for cross-checking at 8:29, and the Penguins gave this power play everything they had. Bryan Rust had three shots on Fowler and Sidney Crosby had two, but the young goaltender did not panic, positioned himself well, and calmly stopped everything the Penguins threw at him. It was the most impressive part of Fowler’s evening, to be sure.
9) Dan Muse pulled Skinner with more than seven minutes remaining on the clock, reckoning that it couldn’t get any worse from a 3-0 deficit, and that the Penguins would need some time if they were to be able to beat Fowler three times in order to force overtime. They did have chances early, with Rakell and Crosby peppering Fowler with shots, but then the Canadiens were able to break the logjam and clear the zone. They then had five close calls on the Pittsburgh open net–Matheson, Veleno, Anderson, and twice Slafkovsky–before Anderson finally put the game away with a shot from the Montreal blue line.
10) The Habs had a massive 6.1-3.3 edge in xG, but that was inflated by all the attempts on the open net in the final minutes. The reality was that the final xG was pretty close, with the Habs holding an edge until that third Pittsburgh power play, where Fowler shone the brightest.
HW Habs Three Stars
First Star: Jacob Fowler (31 shots, 31 saves, 1.000 save %, 3.3 GSAx) looked strong, stable, calm, and mature in net, completely different from his second game, against the Rangers. The GSAx number is impressive, but arguably, he did not steal the game. What he did do, though, is what the Habs so badly need: make the big saves when they are needed. In this case, he kept the scoresheet clean during that critical third-period power play, denying the Penguins the chance to get back into the game.
Second Star: Mike Matheson (0g, 0a, 1 shot, +2, 26:48 TOI) demonstrated how big an impact he has on the team, as the Habs stabilized their defence and did not need to overextend the ice time of their young defenders. Matheson played five of the six minutes the Canadiens had with a man disadvantage, helping to keep most of the Pittsburgh shots to the outside, which in turn gave Fowler a chance to make those key saves.
Third Star: Josh Anderson (2, 0a, 4 shots, 2 hits, +2, 16:12 TOI) scored a key shorthanded goal, plus an empty-netter to put the game away. A solid effort from the veteran winger, who has adapted so well to his new role.
Jake Evans left the game following a knee-on-knee collision on just his third shift. After the game, the Habs announced that he will not accompany the team to Pittsburgh for the rematch on Sunday. With Phillip Danault not joining the team until Monday, they’re down to just 11 available forwards on their roster, which means a recall from Laval could be coming or they’ll opt to go with seven defencemen.