Since Gretz was at Wednesday's Penguins vs. Canadiens game for FanHouse, consider this your abbreviated version of Newsmakers in the NHL, our weekday recap of the previous night's action across the league.PITTSBURGH -- I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I'm probably the only hockey fan in the world that had never seen a player record a hat trick in person, whether it be as a fan in the stands, or sitting in the press box. Thanks to Sidney Crosby's three goal effort on Wednesday, I can now cross that off the list.
Crosby was a one-man wrecking crew in the Penguins' 6-1 win over Montreal, scoring three goals -- giving him nine on the season -- and narrowly missing on at least one more.
| Brian Gionta on the loss: |
|---|
| "When you give them that many turnovers they have a lot of skilled guys that can make things happen. They don't need that many opportunities to hurt you. That's kind of what happened. A little too soft on the puck at times, turnovers at the blue line kind of killed us, and they transitioned with their good players." |
"When Billy [Guerin] and Kuny [Chris Kunitz] are forechecking like they were, and creating loose pucks and stealing pucks, I just try to get ready for those opportunities.''
His first goal came on a one-timer from the faceoff circle to the right of Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak after Kunitz managed to keep the puck in the offensive zone on two separate occasions. Following his second tally of the game at the 5:08 mark of the second period, Crosby completed the trick with this nifty move -- and lucky bounce off his skate -- at the 15:33 mark:
More From Wednesday's Game
-- Halak made his fifth consecutive start in net for the Canadiens (the previous four starts were all wins) and was lifted following the second period after giving up four goals on 23 shots. Carey Price played the final 20 minutes and surrendered two goals. We'll have much more on the goaltending situation in Montreal on Thursday or Friday.
-- Entering play on Wednesday, Kunitz had not scored a goal in 41 straight games (including last year's playoffs) which is an impressive, perhaps even mind-blowing, number when you consider he plays almost entirely with one of the games best playmaking centers in Crosby. His drought ended late in the third period when he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat Price on a breakaway to give the Penguins a 6-1 lead. He's always been a streaky player, so perhaps this could be the start he needs.
-- You can't stop Mike Rupp, you can only hope to contain him. The fourth-liner scored his third goal in six games on a delayed penalty situation midway through the second period. To put his early season goal-scoring numbers into perspective, consider that he scored three goals in 72 games a season ago.
-- Canadiens center Scott Gomez was in the starting lineup despite being questionable with flu-like symptoms. Penguins winger Tyler Kennedy was out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by forward Chris Bourque. On a semi-related note, Bourque's father, Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, was in attendance.
Wednesday's Other Key Games From Around The League
Colorado wins again and stays atop the NHL standings with a 10-1-2 mark
Dallas picks up an overtime win against Toronto
The Islanders upset the Rangers thanks to goals from John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson
