Sloppy Penguins fall in Montreal, see losing streak extend to eight games

Jason Mackey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 20, 2025

Published in Hockey

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MONTREAL — After hitting the post on a second-period scoring chance, Justin Brazeau turned to the glass and smacked it with his stick out of frustration. It was that kind of night for the Penguins.

Again.

They struggled managing the puck, they didn't defend the neutral zone particularly well, and they suffered yet another loss, this time 4-0 to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday night, extending their losing streak to eight games.

The Penguins did not score a goal in their two-game road trip to Ottawa and Montreal. Their last one of those came from Danton Heinen in garbage time against the Oilers on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh dropped to 0-4-4 in its last eight games, its longest losing streak since dropping 10 in a row from Jan. 6-23, 2006.

As a result, the Penguins (14-11-9) went from three points out of first place in the Metropolitan Division following their last win (Dec. 4 at Tampa) to three points — or potentially closer, depending on late results — shy of last place in the Eastern Conference.

It’s been really bad for the Penguins, who have some real problems at the moment. In all phases of their game. How bad?

At one point in the third period, Erik Karlsson went to make a pass, lost track of the puck and instead swiped at air.

This was one billed as Sidney Crosby’s chance to tie or break Mario Lemieux’s points record in the latter’s hometown. However, it turned into yet another no-show for the Penguins, who are no longer even putting themselves in position to blow leads late.

Along with poor special teams and myriad defensive issues, poor puck management was a central theme of Saturday's game. The Penguins got burned by one of a heap of turnovers at 12:14 of the second period, giving the Canadiens a 3-0 lead.

Bryan Rust threw the puck in front of his own net to nobody in particular while the Penguins were on the power play. Center Oliver Kapanen picked it up and fed right wing Josh Anderson with a stretch pass.

Anderson had fresh legs and used his speed, zooming past Sidney Crosby and beating Stuart Skinner glove-side for the goal.

While the Penguins did generate some offense in the opening period, they were sloppy with the puck and didn’t do Skinner, many favors.

Montreal had a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, but it honestly could’ve been bigger. Pittsburgh was credited with 11 giveaways in the first, five below its per-game average.

One of those led to a short-handed chance for Anderson at 3:49, a second setting up left wing Alexandre Texier for a two-on-one attempt that he pushed wide.

It was only a matter of time. The Canadiens broke through on the power play, as left wing Cole Caufield found Juraj Slafkovsky alone in the slot for a 1-0 lead at 16:41.

It continued what has become a concerning trend for the Penguins, too.

The Penguins penalty kill earlier this season was one of the NHL’s best. Lately, it has struggled.

Slafkovsky’s goal, where the Penguins failed to chase down a loose puck in enough time, marked the sixth consecutive game where they allowed at least one power-play goal. Opponents were 8 for 21 (38.1%) during that time.

Not long after, center Owen Beck scored his first NHL goal with a burst of speed down the left wing, taking advantage of Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon losing his footing and zipping a shot over Skinner’s glove at 18:49.

It was over when …

Anderson scored into an empty net at 17:02 of the third period.

Stat of the game

11: Scoring chances off the rush for the Canadiens through two periods compared to just two for the Penguins.

Around the boards

— Penguins coach Dan Muse made several changes to his lineup, shifting Rickard Rakell to center on the second line, replacing him with Tommy Novak and reuniting Rutger McGroarty, Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen. On defense, Muse paired Brett Kulak and Kris Letang and Ryan Shea with Connor Clifton, who had been a healthy scratch the past two games.

— The Penguins’ healthy scratches on Saturday were Danton Heinen, Ryan Graves and Jack St. Ivany.

— The Penguins had been 8-0-3 in their previous 11 games at Montreal, the longest points streak ever in this building.

— Crosby took a stick to the face from Kulak in the second period. He went to the dressing room briefly but was able to return.

Up next

The Penguins return home and will host the Canadiens for the second half of the back-to-back, home-and-home series on Sunday.