Sully says: “We won the road trip”

Pittsburgh's final game of its season-opening road trip on Monday in Montreal followed a similar script to the previous one in the first two periods.

Once again, the Penguins started strong, gaining an 8-0 advantage in shots and going into halftime up 2-1. They faltered in the second period as the Canadiens had most of their momentum in that period.

In contrast to Saturday in Toronto (a 2:4 defeat), Pittsburgh took over in the third period. The Penguins went home with a 6-3 win and a 2-1 road record that started with a win in Detroit.

Evgeni Malkin scored three points on the night and is just one goal away from reaching the 500 mark for his career; Lars Eller scored two goals; and Rickard Rakell, Kevin Hayes and Montreal native Kris Letang all joined them in the goal column.

Tristan Jarry picked up the win between the pipes after rookie Joel Blomqvist played in the previous two games. Here's what head coach Mike Sullivan had to say after the contest.

It wasn't perfect, but I imagine you're pretty happy with this road trip? “Secure. I think we won the road trip and that's what we wanted to try to do when we left. If we win every road trip, I think we'll be in pretty good shape. We come into some buildings that are not easy to play in. This Montreal team has taken a big step in my opinion. They are a good young team, they are fast, they are explosive and they are a very capable group. I thought we beat a really good Detroit team. I thought we were in the right place in Toronto. So it's not perfect and we still have a lot of work to do in terms of building our overall game. But there's a lot of beauty in what's going on out there. I think our efforts are where they need to be. I think our intentions are mostly where they need to be. We get away from it at times as the games progress. But we're trying to get them going again with some discussions on the bench or between periods and you can see the boys are making a concerted effort. So there's a lot to like. There are also opportunities for us to improve and become better. We will start training again and then see when the next game comes and then we will prepare for it.”

What enabled you to take over in the third? “I thought the third phase was much better than the second. I thought our first period was really strong. We commanded the puck. I thought we played the game with some structure. We got away in the second third. You have to give Montreal credit, they put the pressure on and I don't think we handled it very well. We chased the game a little and lost our structure. I thought we'd come back to it in part three. I think that when our team plays an honest game, we play a structured game. I think we're a pretty good hockey team. We can create offense from our defense. We can generate offense with our ball possession game. But I don't think we followed it. I thought we just tried to play the right way.”

How encouraged are you by Geno's performance in the first four games? It looks like he is playing at a particularly high level. “I think he is. I think he looks strong. He is in top shape. I think he's trying to play the game the right way. We talked to him a lot about certain aspects of his game. We can see he's making a concerted effort out there to try and play the game the right way. We asked him to limit his running in the defensive zone or his play away from the puck a little and not play on the move so much. I think he tries to do that when the time calls for it. But I think he looks really strong and still has the ability to take over the game at certain times. I thought he had a really strong game tonight. His line played extremely well. I think he's a big part of it. He controls that line just by his ability to carry the puck, his ability to see the ice. I think he’s playing really well at the moment.”

What does it mean for the group when Lars catches a couple? “This is huge because we ask him to do a lot of the thankless work. He gets a lot of starts in the D-zone, he takes penalties, he plays in tough situations against top lines. Such tasks are not always displayed in the evaluation form. So when a guy like Lars has the ability to score a few goals, I think that means a lot to him. That's good for his self-confidence, but also good for the team. I think his teammates see the effort he puts in and the pride he puts into his overall game. He's just a good professional and plays the game the right way. His whole approach and the way he goes about his business every day, I think his work in the league speaks for itself. I'm not telling you anything you probably don't already know (smiles). But if he scores a few goals, everyone will definitely be happy for him.”

How does the Eller line differ with Jesse Puljujarvi – who returned from a healthy scratch – on the wing compared to Rutger McGroarty? “I don’t think it’s much different because both guys bring a certain amount of size. I mean, Jesse obviously brings a different size. He is a physical presence out there. I think if you look at the line the way it's set up with OC and Jesse, they're two guys that can really skate. They are long and long. You can lean on people. They add a physical dimension to their game. This is a sentence that we believe could cause offence. They're big, they're strong and they can skate. Potentially, such a line could be very effective for us in the future if we keep it together. I think Rutger also brings similar traits to this line by being on this line. But when Jesse goes into the lineup and he's on that line, I think his size is definitely hard to play against and his skating is on a different level right now. This allows him to achieve some of the success that he has. I think he plays with confidence. He has a sure feel for the puck. He doesn't throw away pucks. He tries to make plays when they're there and we think he's playing extremely well. I thought he had another strong game tonight.”

What do you think about Tristan's piece tonight? “I definitely thought he got better as the game went on. I thought he made some big saves down the stretch. They pushed again and ended up pulling the goalkeeper there. We got narrowed down and he made some big saves there. He made a few quiet, difficult saves that might not have looked difficult to the casual fan. When Jars is at his best, he often makes it look easy, but it really isn't. He is positionally secure. He sees the game really well, and I think one of his biggest strengths as a goalie is his ability to read the game and his hockey sense, and then he makes it look easy. When he is at his best, the game comes to him. I thought he got better at it as the game went on.”