The Montreal Canadiens were hoping to return back to Montreal for their home opener with two wins. They almost achieved that goal with a remarkable comeback after being down by four and pushing it to overtime.
Unfortunately, the Penguins scored the deciding goal in the extra period, and the Montreal Canadiens are entering Tuesday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0-1. The fact that they were even able to push it to overtime and get at least one point after being down four is somewhat of an achievement.
When looking back at the game on Saturday night, these are two winners and two losers for the Canadiens.
Winner: Cole Caufield
Mr. Saturday Night made his first appearance of the season as Cole Caufield had not one but two goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Caufield opened the scoring in this game only about four minutes after the first puck drop when he took a pass up the wing and ripped the shot right over the goalie's shoulder.
The second goal of the night came in the third period as Chris Kreider did a good job on the forecheck, stole the puck, and found Caufield all alone in the slot. The Canadiens forward doesn't miss often from that spot in the ice, and he didn't here.
Winner: Nick Suzuki
Typically, if Cole Caufield has a good night, so does Nick Suzuki. However, the Canadiens captain did more than just set up Caufield for goals against the Penguins.
He finished the game with four points after scoring a goal as well as recording three assists, and was a driving force behind the comeback. Suzuki either had the goal or the primary assist on three of Montreal's final four goals.
Loser: Jakub Dobes
It is never a good day for a goalie when they give up six goals in a game, and Dobes allowed six on 30 shots. It was the fifth time in Dobes' career, in the regular season and playoffs, that he allowed six or more goals.
If there is a silver lining from Dobes performance against the Penguins was that he settled down in the third period. He stopped all five shots he faced in that final period of regulation.
The last goal he allowed was in overtime, and it is tough to blame him as the Penguins caught the Canadiens on a line change to put together an odd-man rush.
Loser: Kirby Dach
It has been a rollercoaster of a season for Kirby Dach after he played really well in the season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, he wasn't able to replicate that performance against the Penguins and had a +/- of -2 with three hits.
According to Natural Stat Trick, he had the worst CF% on the team at 31.82% and the second-worst xGF% at 25.80%. When considering Florian Xhekaj is sitting in the press box waiting for his chance, Dach can't have too many more of these performances if he wants to keep his spot in the lineup.
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