Montreal Canadiens vs Pittsburgh Penguins Picks and Predictions October 14th 2024

Pens Out to End Excursion with Win versus Further developing Canadiens

The Pittsburgh Penguins have not begun the season the manner in which they had trusted, with only one win in their initial three games. As they hope to finish off their three-game excursion on a high note, the Penguins will mean to make something happen when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.

Penguins Searching for Consistency

Pittsburgh is falling off a 4-2 misfortune to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, where Kris Letang opened the scoring for the Penguins before Toronto answered with three unanswered goals. Rickard Rakell brought Pittsburgh inside one goal late, yet an unfilled net goal by the Maple Leafs fixed the loss.

Slow beginnings in October have become to some degree a pattern for the Penguins. Last season, they battled to a 3-6-0 record in the main month of the mission. In the two seasons earlier, Pittsburgh posted .500 records through October, going 4-4-1 out of 2022-23 and 3-3-2 of every 2021-22.

Team skipper Sidney Crosby knows that it is so essential to get off to a superior beginning, particularly subsequent to missing the playoffs by a point last season.

“We didn’t like our first game. I thought the last two we gave ourselves a chance to win,” Crosby said. “We’re just trying to get this one. Two out of three on the road would be pretty good. Obviously, starts are important. If you look at our last couple of seasons, we missed the playoffs by a point or two. A good start goes a long way, so we’ll try to make sure that we’re getting better here.”

Crosby as of now sits second in the team with three points, all helps, while Evgeni Malkin drives the Penguins with four points, likewise all helps. Malkin has been standing out as truly newsworthy as of late, hitting numerous profession achievements. He recorded his 800th vocation help during Pittsburgh’s down against Detroit last week and followed that up by arriving at 1,300 profession points in the game against Toronto. Malkin is additionally only two goals from arriving at 500 for his vocation, joining an esteemed rundown of dynamic players like Crosby (1,599 points) and Alex Ovechkin (1,551 points) who have collected a greater number of points than Malkin.

“I think it speaks for itself,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “(Malkin is) one of the greatest players of all time. He’s clearly one of the best players of this generation. We’re fortunate that we have two of them on our team. It’s quite a privilege to watch these two guys perform.”

Canadiens Looking encouraging so far

While the Penguins are looking for consistency, the Montreal Canadiens are feeling better subsequent to winning two of their initial three games this season. Most as of late, the Canadiens procured a 4-1 triumph against the Ottawa Congresspersons on Saturday.

Montreal’s early achievement has been driven by serious areas of strength for the of goaltender Samuel Montembeault, who has been between the lines for both of their triumphs, and the hostile capability of forward Cole Caufield and new kid on the block defenseman Lane Hutson.

“It feels pretty good right now, but it’s only three games,” Caufield said. “We’ve played some pretty tough teams, but it’s still early and we still have a long way to go. But it feels pretty good to get off to a good start.”

Caufield has been a champion for Montreal, scoring four goals in the initial three games to lead the team. The youthful forward, who has consistently expanded his goal sums over the last three seasons, looks ready for another enormous year.

Newbie defenseman Lane Hutson has likewise been noteworthy, tying Caufield for the team lead in points with four aids the initial three games. Hutson’s ability to playmaking has stuck out, and he’s rapidly leaving his imprint as perhaps of Montreal’s most unique youthful player.

Unlock Exclusive Betting Strategies! Sign Up Today.

“His capacity to identify space on the play is truly noteworthy,” Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson said of Hutson. “It appears as though he’s consistently ready to take the puck and spot a player who’s open. Doing that after five games is truly noteworthy.”

What to Look For

As the Penguins shut down out their excursion, they’ll be searching for a more complete exertion on both ends of the ice. While Pittsburgh has shown blazes of hostile capability, cautious breakdowns have cost them, and they’ll have to fix things up in the event that they desire to leave away with a success in Montreal.

The Canadiens, in the mean time, will be hoping to proceed with areas of strength for them and work off their new achievement. With Caufield and Hutson driving the manner in which on offense and Montembeault giving solidness in net, Montreal gets an opportunity to come down in a Penguins team that is as yet looking for its beat.

With both teams hoping to pick up early-season speed, Monday night’s matchup ought to be a hard-battled challenge between two clubs anxious to do something significant. The Penguins will expect to complete their excursion with a success, while the Canadiens plan to continue to improve as they seek fabricate an establishment for future achievement.