Habs Lose 4-3 in the Shootout, As Crosby Breaks Lemieux’s Points Record
The Montreal Canadiens couldn’t pull off back-to-back victories on the weekend as they fell short 4-3 in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With their victory over the Habs, the Penguins snapped an 8-game losing streak. The game will be best remembered for being the night Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s record for most points as a Penguin, as he finished with a goal and an assist that gave them a lot of momentum late in the first period. Despite Crosby’s big night, it was Rickard Rakell who won the game for his team in the shootout.
The Montreal Canadiens fell 4–3 to the Penguins in a shootout, opening their seven-game road trip with a point.
Les Canadiens de Montréal se sont inclinés 4–3 face aux Penguins.
Prochain match : Canadiens c. Bruins
23 décembre à 19 h#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro pic.twitter.com/C30jqZ99Fm— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) December 22, 2025
After having an amazing performance on Saturday, the Habs struggled to gain consistent momentum on Sunday, thanks partly to Crosby stealing the show early on. Nonetheless, the Habs did enough to stick around throughout the game despite being outplayed by the Penguins for the majority of the night. Although they didn’t have many defensive breakdowns, as we’ve seen in their past losses, it was more a matter of situations where the Penguins made great plays to create their offence.
The same can be said for the Habs’ goals on Sunday night; all the successful offence created for the most part came from great passing or setup plays. Goal scoring tended to go back and forth throughout the night.
While neither goalie had a great night, both Jakub Dobes and Arturs Silovs didn’t cost their team at any point during the game. Although they both had a goal or two that they would have liked to have back.
– Ivan Demidov wins the puck battle and has the skill & vision to make the pass
– Juraj Slafkovsky doesn’t hesitate and quickly passes the puck away
– The Oliver Kapanen snipes it and his haters are in shambles
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 22, 2025
The Canadiens were the ones who got off to a good start early on and were able to open the scoring with a goal by Oliver Kapanen 7:31 into the first period. His goal was the result of a beautiful tic-tac-toe play that started with Ivan Demidov getting the puck to Juraj Slafkovsky, who found Kapanen with a cross-ice pass on the right side of the slot, where he fired a one-timer past Silovs.
“Make room, Mario!”
Sidney Crosby has tied Mario Lemieux for the most points in @penguins history! 🐧 pic.twitter.com/T8QEY1iJdW
— NHL (@NHL) December 22, 2025
Unfortunately, the Habs’ lead would only last 27 seconds after Cole Caufield made a bad turnover in the Habs zone, which ended with Erik Karlsson sending over a shot pass for Crosby to tip from the slot, which beat Dobes to tie the game. With this goal, Crosby tied Mario Lemieux for the most points in Penguins history with his 1723rd career point. As a result, this goal gave the Penguins a ton of momentum, which led to them taking over the rest of the first period.
SIDNEY CROSBY HAS DONE IT! 🤯
HE NOW HAS THE MOST POINTS IN PENGUINS HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/OtFkG5odqe
— NHL (@NHL) December 22, 2025
Then, a few minutes later, Crosby would score a power play goal by Rickard Rakell in front of the net to officially pass Lemieux in points as a Penguin. In fact, it was a Crosby slapshot from the left faceoff circle that led to the goal as Rackell buried the rebound to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
Standing alone at the top of franchise history.
Sidney Crosby is the new @penguins all-time points leader, surpassing Hall-of-Famer Mario Lemieux (1,723). pic.twitter.com/wWCzdCzabT
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) December 22, 2025
The Habs continued to struggle to produce any shots on Silovs the rest of the period, but thanks to Dobes and solid overall defence, the Habs were able to keep the game within one the rest of the period.
– Juraj Slafkovsky is playing with more confidence than we’ve ever seen him with the Habs. This is Slaf vs Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
– Every Ivan Demidov goal is a highlight-reel. Elite ethical sniper pic.twitter.com/7WrS4DlaU1
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 22, 2025
Early in the 2nd period, it was the Canadiens’ turn to be the hungry team, and within 3:54, the game was tied thanks to the Slafkovsky-Kapanen-Demidov line again. Slafkovsky would throw a cross-ice pass to Demidov, who was along the right wall at the top of the offensive zone, where he wired a wild one-timer that was able to tie the game at 2. In terms of offence, the other lines struggled most of the night, but the Canadiens’ 2nd line capitalized on their opportunities and finished the night with 2 points each (Slafkovsky 2 assists; Kapanen 1 goal, 1 assist; Demidov 1 goal, 1 assist). This goal, however, would likely be the one that Silovs would want back the most, given the wildness of the shot.
TOP SHELF WHERE MAMA HIDES THE COOKIES! 🍪 pic.twitter.com/0NimrMBXuB
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 22, 2025
For the next while, all the momentum was going the Habs’ way, as they held the Penguins shotless during the majority of the first half of the 2nd period. However, momentum would go over to the Penguins’ side yet again thanks to an outlet pass from Kris Letang in his defensive zone all the way into the offensive zone to Noel Acciari, who would skate towards the net before firing a wrist shot in the top corner of Dobes’ glove side, which would give the Penguins the lead once again.
Following the goal, the Penguins took 11 unanswered shots before the Habs would get their next shot on goal, finishing the 2nd period with a 3-2 lead. However, the Habs would be able to come back in the 3rd period.
Beau p’tit cadeau de Noah Dobson
Nice lil’ gift from Noah Dobson#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/q1HKCqUzbD
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 22, 2025
In the 3rd period, the Habs pushed hard for the tying goal, which would occur when Noah Dobson punched in from the point and deked to his backhand before flipping the puck over Silovs, who was lying on the ice, to tie the game. The reason Silovs had fallen to the ice is that a Penguins defenseman had pushed Owen Beck onto his goaltender, causing Dobson to have an easy opportunity to score and tie the game. Since Beck was pushed by the defender, there was no goaltender interference to call the goal back.
After that goal, both teams tried to push for a winning goal, but neither team was able to take advantage of their opportunities, and it would require overtime.
In overtime, it was pure dominance by the Habs at 3-on-3, which included both Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson hitting the crossbar, but they couldn’t beat Silovs to get the win. The Penguins only had one chance where Karlsson was stopped by Dobes.
A quick release from Caufield in the shootout: pic.twitter.com/P3UWdwQZyY
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 22, 2025
In the shootout, Kevin Hayes would beat Dobes as the first shooter for the Penguins, and Alexandre Texier attempted his one-handed move to no success, leaving the Penguins with an early lead. Dobes was then able to stop Crosby before Caufield would tie the shootout at 1 by shooting it five-hole on Silovs.
That’s some smooth moves, Rickard Rakell! 😎 pic.twitter.com/0wvfWNqvoC
— NHL (@NHL) December 22, 2025
However, in the 3rd round, Rakell would deke out Dobes to put the Penguins back up. Then Nick Suzuki went backhand-forehand and was stopped by Silovs, as the Penguins would take the game in a shootout. The biggest issue in the shootout for the Habs was the fact that Suzuki would be the 3rd guy to go in the first place. Suzuki has now missed 15 straight shootout attempts dating back to December 13th, 2023, and as a result, someone else like Slafkovsky or Demidov, who had great games, should have gotten a chance instead.
The fact that he continues to go to every Habs shootout despite his struggles shows that Martin St. Louis is having trouble adjusting to putting someone outside his regulars in the shootout. However, there are multiple options that can be better than Suzuki right now. This doesn’t mean Suzuki should be removed from all shootouts forever, but for the time being, it’s better to try someone else in his spot to at least show that the Habs are trying to win the shootout.
Nick Suzuki is now 0-15 in his last 15 shootout attempts.
His last shootout goal was on Dec. 13th, 2023.
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 22, 2025
Anyways, it’s in the past now, but the Canadiens should consider trying someone new in future shootouts. The Habs finished the weekend collecting 3 of a possible 4 points against the Penguins, which is a successful home-and-home, all things considered.
The Habs will be back in action on Tuesday night at TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins, in what is expected to be Phillip Danault’s first game with the Canadiens since he left for the L.A. Kings in the 2021 off-season.
Are you happy with the Canadiens getting 3 out of a possible 4 points against the Penguins this weekend?
