Crosby has 3 points, Penguins rally past Canadiens in 12-round shootout

MONTREAL -- Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a 12-round shootout at Bell Centre on Wednesday.

Jansen Harkins scored on Pittsburgh’s last shootout attempt to give the Penguins their second win in back-to-back games, including a 4-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.

“It’s always fun once it starts going,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said about the shootout. “Guys on the bench are starting to panic a little bit and hoping for a goal for us, so it kind of ends so they don’t get picked. But at the same time, it’s one of those things that guys get opportunities to take a penalty shot that otherwise they might have not, and today ‘Harks’ scored a goal for us.

“I don’t know if he’s taken a penalty shot before, let alone scored a goal, so it’s a big moment for him personally, and obviously, for our hockey club as well.”

Crosby tied Mark Recchi for 13th on the NHL all-time scoring list with 1,533 points (566 goals, 967 assists) after passing Paul Coffey (1,531) earlier in the game.

“It goes by really quick, but to be in company with ‘Rex,’ having played with him, having watched him here,” Crosby said. “I know the kind of career he had, and how good he was, and how consistent he was. So, it’s definitely a compliment to be in company with him.”

Karlsson had two assists, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 39 saves for Pittsburgh (13-12-3), nine of which came in overtime when Evgeni Malkin was penalized for tripping Canadiens forward Cole Caufield 1:04 in.

“We didn’t start the way we wanted to start but we kept fighting, we climbed back in the game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “And I thought obviously, the power play once again was a big difference for us but the penalty kill in overtime, and down the stretch I thought ‘Ned’ made some real timely saves for us as well. So, I’m just proud of the group. It’s a back-to-back, they’re never easy in these circumstances and I thought we competed hard.”

Sam Montembeault made 27 saves for Montreal (12-13-4), which has lost eight of its past nine home games (1-6-2).

“I liked a lot of things in the first period, but we started to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “And in the second, we continued to shoot ourselves in the foot some more. But we played a very good third period. Overall, I think we played well enough to win the game, but when you shoot yourselves in the foot like that, you leave things to chance a bit.”

Crosby tied it 3-3 at 11:02 of the second period with a power-play goal through a screen from the high slot.

David Savard intercepted Karlsson’s breakout pass at the blue line and walked in for a wrist shot to give Montreal a 1-0 lead at 6:24 of the first period.

Jayden Struble made it 2-0 at 12:21 on a shot from the right side after a return pass by Jesse Ylönen.

Crosby cut it to 2-1 at 13:48 when he forced a turnover by Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle and flipped a rebound past Montembeault from the left of the crease during a scramble in front.

“It’s been the same way his whole career,” Canadiens forward Sean Monahan said of Crosby. “He’s a consistent player, a great player, and somebody that a lot of guys still look up to.”

Monahan made it 3-1 at 15:20 when he poked a loose puck behind Nedeljkovic on a power play.

Jake Guentzel cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 5:36 of the second on a slap shot from the point.

“It was a good show tonight,” Montembeault said. “Obviously, the fans loved it, it was so loud in the building. It can go either way in the shootout, you never know what can happen.”

NOTES: The game marked the longest shootout in the NHL since Nov. 22, 2016 (14 rounds during a 3-2 win for the New York Islanders at the Anaheim Ducks). … It was Crosby's 172nd three-point game, tying Steve Yzerman for seventh in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky leads with 459. … Montreal has 23 goals by defensemen this season, trailing only the Colorado Avalanche (24) for most in the League. … Karlsson became the only active defenseman to have at least 50 multiassist periods.