Habs top Pens in high-scoring shootout
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - David Desharnais scored in the second round of the shootout to give the Montreal Canadiens a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Daniel Briere had two goals and an assist for the Canadiens, who snapped a five-game skid against the Penguins in the Steel City. Brendan Gallagher, Max Pacioretty and Alexei Emelin also lit the lamp.
Peter Budaj stopped 27-of-32 shots in the victory.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Olli Maatta, Brandon Sutter, Sidney Crosby and James Neal each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who played their first game since Feb. 7 due to the Olympic break. Deryk Engelland also scored.
Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 24-of-29 shots for Pittsburgh, which fell to 23-4-2 at home this season.
The Canadiens drew first blood at the 4:57 mark of the first period. Gallagher lit the lamp after the Penguins turned the puck over in their own zone.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pittsburgh tied the game at 8:23 when Neal snuck a shot past Budaj from the bottom of the left circle.
Engelland gave the Penguins the lead at 15:48 of the first when his shot from the right circle beat Budaj.
Briere made it a 2-2 game at 6:17 of the middle stanza when he scored from the bottom of the right circle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pittsburgh went back in front at 10:38 when Maatta's slap shot from the point got past Budaj. The score came with Montreal's Lars Eller in the penalty box for hooking.
Less than a minute later, Pacioretty scored a power-play goal of his own to make it 3-3. His shot from the right circle beat Fleury.
Pittsburgh took the lead back 7:16 into the third frame. Sutter stole the puck from P.K. Subban in the neutral zone before scoring on a shorthanded breakaway.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Just 24 seconds later, Emelin scored on a shot from the point.
Crosby responded with a power-play goal at the 12:29 mark when he put home a rebound off Evgeni Malkin's one-timer from the right circle.
Pittsburgh's Tanner Glass received a game misconduct 19 seconds after Crosby's goal. Briere scored on the ensuing Montreal power play to make it a 5-5 contest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fleury made five saves in overtime to send the game into a shootout.
Budaj turned aside Neal, Crosby and Malkin in the shootout to secure the victory.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Canadiens took two of three from the Penguins this season ... Pittsburgh forwards Taylor Pyatt and Joe Vitale returned to the lineup. Pyatt missed two games with a lower-body injury and Vitale missed 12 games with an upper-body injury ... Montreal goaltender Carey Price was held out with a lower-body injury.