The Montreal Canadiens had a bit of time to recover from a high-energy first game of the season, one in which they took the Stanley Cup favourite Toronto Maple Leafs to overtime to claim a point. With nearly five days off between Saturday night’s contest and Thursday’s home opener, they could afford to leave everything on the ice in search of a first victory.
At the opening drop of the puck, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins who had the most jump, immediately going on the attack, but not beating Carey Price for an early goal to get the crowd engaged.