The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night, looking to extend their wining streak without captain Nick Suzuki to five games.

Prior to puck drop, it was announced that Kirby Dach was feeling ill, leading to both Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj playing on the fourth line, anchored by Oliver Kapanen.

It was an exciting, chaotic, defence-optional match up, resulting in a hard-fought 5-4 win for the Canadiens.

For the view from the other side of the rink, please make sure to visit Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Necessary Response

It was quite evident from the very get-go that the Habs and Penguins were focused on scoring goals, rather than preventing them. Erik Karlsson opened the scoring a little over two minutes into the first period, a less-than-ideal start to say the least.

Fortunately for the Canadiens, as they’ve done on several occasions since Suzuki’s injury, they found a way to bounce back.

Oliver Kapanen scored his first goal of the season, as well as his first since March, less than a minute after the Penguins found the back of the net. Both Beck and Xhekaj earned assists, a well-deserved reward for their hard work, which doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet.

The Canadiens were not done there.

Josh Anderson took advantage of an excellent forecheck, not to mention a shaky Sergei Murashov, to score his fifth goal of the season.

Scoring a goal in this situation is always welcomed, but even if Anderson shot wide, it would have been the type of pressure head coaches love to see. Simply put, the best teams in the NHL outwork their opponents on a nightly basis.

Depth Scoring

While Jacob Fowler did not enjoy his best game of the season, it must be said the Canadiens did an extremely good job limiting Pittsburgh’s chances. They also received ample scoring from secondary sources, including a very nice goal from Alexandre Texier, in what essentially mounted to a 2v4 rush. Full marks to Hutson, who managed to pull off a spin-o-rama assist while facing several opponents.

The Habs immediately scored again, though it took them a lot longer than the flurry of goals in the first period. This time around, it took 26 seconds.

The horror.

Chris Kreider, who had been fading in recent games, registered his second goal of the year with the classic front-of-the-net positioning he is famous for.

Fight Night

The Canadiens would go on to establish a 5-3 lead midway through the second period, when Anderson managed to get his stick on a Lane Hutson point shot. It was his sixth goal of the season, and second of the night.

However, it was Beck who stole the show, landing a massive hit deep in the Penguins zone, before being forced into a fight by Blake Lizzotte, who likely regretted his decision.

It was a one-sided fight, and a good reminder that Beck is doing all he can to ensure he keeps his job in the NHL. As it stands, no other Canadiens player has a higher expected goals percentage than Beck, who is running just short of 70 xGF%, the definition of elite.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday, facing the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.