BY ALAN ROBINSON
PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby scored a goal and set up another with an no-look pass and the Pittsburgh Penguins matched a franchise record for most victories in their first 25 games, beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Wednesday night.
The Penguins are 17-8 with five victories in six games since losing four in a row and five of six. The only other seasons they won 17 of their first 25 were 1995-96 (17-5-3) and 1994-95 (17-6-2), when there were tie games.
Crosby, held scoreless in five consecutive games for the first time in his career earlier this season, again tormented the Canadiens – the team he followed as a youngster after Montreal drafted his father, Todd, in 1984.
Crosby has four goals and an assist as the Penguins have outscored Montreal 9-2 in two games in Pittsburgh, including a 6-1 victory on Oct. 28 in which Crosby had his only three-goal game this season. Crosby has three goals and six assists in seven games since the scoreless streak ended.
Montreal was coming off a 5-3 victory over Columbus on Tuesday and was 3-0-1 on its previous four, but fell behind 3-0 by late in the second period as Bill Guerin and Sergei Gonchar also scored. Pittsburgh has won five of six.
Crosby scored near the midpoint of the first period with a wrist shot from the left circle that sailed past goalie Carey Price.
Gonchar scored his first goal in four games since missing 12 games with a broken left wrist, a backhander from the slot created by Crosby’s spinarama pass from the left circle that connected with Gonchar in stride.
The assist was Crosby’s 279th, moving him past Ron Stackhouse and into 10th place in franchise history.
