Penguins Miss Shot at Beating Canadiens

The Pittsburgh Penguins had every opportunity--even a penalty shot--to knock off Montreal in overtime. In the playoffs, that doesn’t happen very often.

Benoit Brunet caught Pittsburgh in a line change to beat Tom Barrasso from the top of the left circle at 18:43 of overtime, lifting Montreal past the Penguins, 3-2, in their Eastern Conference playoff opener Thursday.

The seventh-seeded Canadiens, looking for their first playoff series victory since they won the Stanley Cup in 1993, won their 14th consecutive overtime playoff game.

“That’s pretty amazing, 14 in a row,” forward Vincent Damphousse said. “I knew about that. . . . That’s why we felt pretty good going into overtime.”

They probably didn’t feel so good when Penguin rookie Alexei Morozov had a chance to win it 1:44 into the extra period. But his penalty shot--a rarity in NHL overtime playoff hockey--clanged off the right post.

“He went to his backhand and the puck kind of turned over on him,” said goaltender Andy Moog, who stopped 34 shots. “I never got a pad on it, but those things happen.”

Defenseman Patrice Brisebois intentionally knocked the net off its moorings just as Moog turned away Martin Straka’s shot, resulting in the penalty shot.

Both teams had ample scoring chances after that, but it took Brunet’s breakout off Vladimir Malakhov’s pass to win it.

Pittsburgh tied it with only 1:38 remaining in the third period as Stu Barnes got his stick on Jiri Slegr’s shot from a crowded crease. Martin Rucinsky had given Montreal a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 12:15 of the first.