The Penguins score six goals in the third period, crushing Habs, 9-2

Now, where do I even begin with this one?

After a disappointing 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Friday last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins responded by playing arguably their best game of the season with a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. They lost another forgettable game against Colorado on Tuesday and looked to respond well again on Thursday in Montreal.

And they certainly did.

The Penguins took a 3-2 lead into the third period and mounted a six-goal attack in the third period to defeat the Canadiens 9-2 and win their season series. Bryan Rust scored four points – including the Penguins’ first hat trick of the season, Rickard Rakell had two goals and two assists and Sidney Crosby added three assists, scoring 11 points from the front line.

Kris Letang, Anthony Beauvillier, Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto – who scored his first goal in 405 days – also appeared for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry stopped 21 of 23 Montreal shots.

“We’re obviously proud of the group,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “I thought we fought hard. I thought it was a much closer game than the score suggested for much of the game. It was a close game. Montreal is a good team, they are a proud team. I think what broke. “It was the fifth goal we scored on the power play and I told the guys that after the game.”

Rakell said it best after the game.

“Everyone loves to score goals,” he said.

Here are some thoughts and observations after this wild victory:

– There is a lot of talk about concerns about Crosby’s lack of production this season. I even – sort of – wrote about it this morning. But there will be points for 87.

Why?

Because his teammates will help force him to act.

As mentioned, the front line of Rakell, Crosby and Rust combined for 11 points on Thursday. Rust has now scored 12 goals in 24 games this season and is on a pace of 40 goals. Rakell is 13 of 31 and scoring on a 34-goal pace.

There was a lot of concern that Crosby’s production would take a hit after losing Jake Guentzel. But if this line can dominate like it did tonight – and it has done so at times this season – it will more than make up for the loss of Guentzel for Crosby.

I certainly thought he was the best player on the ice tonight. Before Rakell’s second goal, he made a beautiful backhand pass from the boards to Rust, and he did all the little things to advance the game that everyone has come to expect from him:

A truly great performance from the front row tonight and an exceptional performance from the Penguins captain. With 477 points, he tied with Steve Yzerman for the seventh-most multi-point games in NHL history.

– Speaking of performance (and lack thereof), Kris Letang now has eight points in his last six games. Before this stretch, he had only amassed a total of six points this season.

But he is on pace to score 16 goals, which would be a career high.

He’s another guy who hasn’t put together the production that people are used to. Once those assists start piling up – and they should if the power play unit continues as it is now – that should help this team significantly as well.

The Penguins are scoring high this season and will need their top players to start contributing more than they have in the past. They were really great for the Penguins tonight.

– Pittsburgh’s split power play resulted in two more goals on Thursday, both from Crosby’s unit. In this game, they ranked 14th in the league in power play percentage, which only increased after this game.

Matt Grzelcyk was instrumental in this. He provided an assist on Rakell’s power play goal in the first period, and there was so much cohesion between him and Letang on the blue line with that first session.

Say what you want about the rest of his game this season. He was really good on the Penguins power play.

– Good for Nieto for scoring that goal. Again, it was his first in 405 days and after two surgeries, and his teammates – as well as his coach – were very happy for him.

“I’m excited about him,” Sullivan said. “He went through so much just to get back. Game state, think about it…he’s going through two surgeries, a lengthy return to play just to get back in game shape and in the lineup. If a guy.” Just like him having the opportunity to score a goal, I think it gives the team a big boost because they know how hard he works and they know what kind of person he is and what he brings to the team.”

– Malkin’s line was really the only one that struggled at times on Thursday. While I understand wanting to reward Michael Bunting for his good play – he’s been second in the team standings since November 5th – what Bunting had on the third line with Blake Lizotte and Anthony Beauvillier has really turned into something special for him the Penguins developed.

Tonight, the Penguins lined up Bunting, Malkin and Tomasino together, while Cody Glass centered a third line with Drew O’Connor and Beauvillier and Lizotte centered the fourth line with Nieto and Acciari.

I liked Glass and Tomasino’s little sampling with Malkin. I would love it if they gave this combination a little time to see how it develops, and I really think they should leave the third “BLT” line intact. They weren’t together for a few games, but it worked.

– This now means O’Connor hasn’t scored any goals in 25 games.

I’m not sure what’s going on with his game. But he’s underperforming and has lost the puck in crucial moments several times in recent games.

A few minutes on the fourth line might help relieve some pressure and get him to focus on other things. But if he can’t come soon, I’d like to see Jesse Puljujarvi get some minutes in his place for a few games.

– The Penguins travel to Ottawa on Saturday to face a Senators team that is 13-13-2 and looking to win their second straight game. Ottawa plays Carolina on Friday and on Thursday they are two points behind the Penguins with three games left.

Throughout the season, every game is important, but when the NHL clock hits mid-December, every single game really starts to count. Especially for teams vying for wildcard spots.

Ottawa is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games and has some real talent up front and on the blue line. Even if they play back-to-back games, the Penguins should do their best not to underestimate this team.

Hopefully they can carry some of this scoring momentum into Saturday’s duel. I imagine the Penguins will see Anton Forsberg instead of Linus Ullmark with Carolina the night before.

Don’t count out the penguins yet. This team can score up and down the lineup. What will matter this season will be whether the goalkeeper can perform well and whether the team defense can improve even slightly.