Penguins 4, Canadiens 3 (shootout)

A quick look at the Penguins’ 4-3 shootout victory against Montreal at Consol Energy Center Wednesday night:

*** The Penguins rallied from a 3-2 deficit after two periods, ending a streak of 37 consecutive losses in games when they were behind after 40 minutes. They hadn’t won such a game since Jan. 5, 2014.

*** David Perron and Sidney Crosby beat Montreal goalie Mike Condon in the shootout, while Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins stopped Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais.

*** The victory was the Penguins’ 10th in their past 12 games and raised their record to 10-5.

*** Fleury got a scare at 15:13 of the first period, when teammate Ben Lovejoy’s stick struck him just below the left eye, opening a wound that required three stitches to close. “I was just worried for a [second] because I felt my eye going down,” Fleury said. “My dad lost an eye, too, with a stick in his face, so I was a little worried.” Fleury immediately adjourned to the locker room, but returned to the game a few minutes later.

*** The Penguins had an absolutely miserable second period, when Montreal ran up a 13-1 advantage in shots and scored two unanswered goals. “We just cannot play that way,” coach Mike Johnston said. He delivered that message to his players during the second intermission. “He’s a very cerebral man,” Lovejoy said. “I’m sure [his talk] was very calculated. You could tell he was disappointed in the way that second period went.” Lovejoy declined to say whether Johnston raised his voice to make his point, but at least one player said he did not.

*** The Penguins had late in regulation and another in overtime, but failed to capitalize on either. They were 0-for-4 with the extra man, ending a run of five consecutive games with a power-play goal.

*** Patric Hornqvist forced overtime when he beat Condon from the top of the left circle at 13:35 of the third period to cap a two-on-one break with Pascal Dupuis. “The defense took away [Dupuis], so I had to shoot it,” Hornqvist said. “And it went in.”

*** Dupuis, who had missed the previous two games after a health scare led to him being hospitalized for a few hours in Edmonton last Friday, scored just 13 seconds into the game, as he set up near the left side of the crease and steered in a cross-ice feed from Crosby. The team record for the fastest goal at the start of a game is held by Jean Pronovost, who scored six seconds into the first period March 25, 1976 at St. Louis.

*** The Penguins are 8-0 this season when getting the first goal.

*** Perron has scored on four of six shootout attempts since joining the Penguins.

*** The Penguins had lost their previous three games against Montreal at Consol Energy Center. They have not lost four in a row at home to the Canadiens since Oct. 21, 1975-Oct. 23, 1976.

*** Hornqvist had a season-high seven shots on goal and has three goals in the past six games.

*** This was the Penguins’ first game of the season that reached a shootout. They are 3-0 in games that extend beyond the third period.

*** Crosby had two assists, his third multiple-point game of the season. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 30 career games against Montreal.

*** Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta scored his second goal of the season when a Phil Kessel shot late in the first period glanced off his leg on the way to the net. The Penguins are 4-0 this season when Maatta gets a point.