Pens again have problems in Montreal

Strange things always happen to the Penguins in Montreal, and it illustrates something of a trend for Dan Bylsma's Penguins. Although they fought back to earn a point in Montreal, the Penguins fell in the eighth round of a shootout, 3-2.

There are certain things the Penguins simply haven't managed well during Bylsma's otherwise magnificent run as coach. They don't play well in New Jersey, they don't play well at home against the league's best teams, and they rarely have a conventional performance in Montreal.

That didn't change on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been brilliant all season and, for the most part, was the game's best player against the Canadiens. However, he did permit a terrible goal in the second period, something that is largely in Fleury's past. He has allowed few "bad" goals all season, but did allow a goal when he departed the net briefly to play a puck behind the net, only Montreal's Lars Eller fooled him by throwing a shot back on net that went in.

Fleury, normally among the league's most accommodating players, was nowhere to be found in the locker room following the game, but could be heard breaking his stick in the nearby trainer's room.

Meanwhile, another of the Penguins' most reliable players, defenseman Kris Letang, also endured a rough night. Letang momentarily lost track of Montreal forward Louie Leblanc, and the step Leblanc got on Letang was enough for him to get off a shot that beat Fleury.

Fleury gave up three goals in eight shootout rounds, an unusually high number for the goalie who almost never allows goals in shootouts. But then, this game took place in Montreal, where the unpredictable is predictable for the Penguins.

They return to action on Saturday at home against the Winnipeg Jets.

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