NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens - Source: Imagn — Captain Nick Suzuki gave his honest assessment after disappointing loss to Pittsburgh Penguins (Image Source: Imagn)

Habs captain Nick Suzuki doesn't mince his words after Montreal Canadiens dreadful 9-2 loss to Penguins

Modified Dec 13, 2024 06:03 GMT

The Montreal Canadiens and captain Nick Suzuki ended their recent five-game home stretch with a 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadians were 3-1 before this loss and they were highly confident and positive welcoming the Penguins and hoped for a win. But things fell apart after the first period.

Suzuki talked postgame about the disappointing seven-goal deficit loss to the Penguins and what went wrong.

"I'm still trying to think about what just happened, and I don't know who that was out there. It was embarrassing by us," Suzuki said.

(from 0:12 mark onwards)

In the first period, Nick Suzuki opened the scoring for the Canadians giving them a 1-0 lead at 2:12. But the Penguins' star of the night Rickard Rakell, who scored a hat trick goal in the game tied the game 1-1.

In the second period, Canadians scored one goal and allowed 2 goals making the score 2-3. But the third period was a complete disaster. The Penguins scored six goals and the Canadians' offense was completely shut. They had no answers to the Penguins' onslaught.

Talking about the third-period performance Suzuki said:

"Yeah, I mean, we had a good stretch record-wise going at home here. We wanted to finish it off. I thought we put ourselves in a decent position heading into the third and then just fell on our face.

"But down one going into the third at home, I think I liked our spot. That was just... I don't know, I don't really know how to explain what just happened," he added.

Despite the disappointment of finishing their home games stretch it with a 9-2 loss, the Canadians secured three wins during the period and performed well aside from Thursday night's matchup.

Under Sam Montembeault, the team secured a 3-0 shutout win over the Nashville Predators. He was overworked after back-to-back starts in the last five home games. Even bringing in Cayden Primeau was of no help as he allowed three goals on seven shots.

Nick Suzuki's early lead did not yield a positive result

The Penguins overwhelmed the Canadiens with consistent scoring. Rickard Rakell tied the game on a power play after Suzuki's opener. Bryan Rust then gave Pittsburgh the lead with a close-range goal and added another after Rakell’s pass. Joel Armia brought Montreal closer, but Rakell and Kris Letang scored to extend the lead.

Rust completed his hat trick after Montembeault was replaced in goal. Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari added late goals. The Penguins’ top line led the way with strong performances from Rust, Rakell and Sidney Crosby.

The Canadiens will look to bounce back when they face the Winnipeg Jets next at Canada Life Centre on Saturday.