(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) shoots through traffic for a goal which tied him with former Penguins player Mario Lemieux for the team’s all-time points leader during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Montréal Canadiens in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s franchise scoring record and Rickard Rakell had the deciding goal in the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Sunday night to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Crosby, who began the night one point behind Lemieux, broke the mark in the first period with a goal and an assist and now has 645 goals and 1,079 assists for 1,724 points in 1,387 games. He also moved past Lemieux for the eighth-most points in NHL history.

Crosby, who has 20 goals this season, achieved his 18th 20-goal season. Only six players in NHL history have more.

Rakell had a goal and an assist in regulation and Noel Acciari also scored for the Penguins. Arturs Silovs had 23 saves for his first win since Nov. 6 against Washington.

Oliver Kapanen, Ivan Demidov and Noah Dobson scored for the Canadiens, who saw a brief two-game win streak end. Montreal is 4-1-2 since a 6-1 loss against Tampa Bay on Dec. 9. Jakub Dobes had 28 saves.

Kevin Hayes also scored for the Penguins in the shootout and Cole Caulfield tallied for the Canadiens. After Rakell gave Pittsburgh the lead in the third round, Silovs denied Nick Suzuki on Montreal’s last attempt.

Pittsburgh, which is 1-4-4 in its last nine games, rebounded from consecutive shutout losses at Ottawa on Thursday and Montreal on Saturday. The Penguins won their first shootout this season.

Phillip Danault, who was traded to Montreal from Los Angeles on Friday, didn’t play on Sunday and is expected to play on Tuesday at Boston.

Pittsburgh led 3-2 entering the third period, but Dobson tied it with a backhand from the slot.

Crosby tipped Erik Karlsson’s point shot at 7:58 of the first period for a goal to tie the game and the record. Crosby then broke the mark with 7:20 left in the period when his shot on a power play hit Bryan Rust and Rakell tapped the rebound behind Dobes.

Crosby also passed Phil Esposito 449 for sole possession of the ninth-most even-strength goals in NHL history. He also tied Adam Oates for the eighth-most assists in NHL history in the first period.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Continue a seven-game road trip at Boston on Tuesday.

Penguins: Visit Toronto on Tuesday.

 

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler (32) makes a save against Pittsburgh Penguins’ Connor Dewar (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

MONTREAL (AP) — Jacob Fowler made 31 saves for his fourth NHL start for his first shutout and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 on Saturday night to open a home-and-home set.

The teams will meet again Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

Josh Anderson scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Owen Beck had his first NHL goal for Montreal. Juraj Slafkovsky also scored to help Montreal improve to 19-12-4 with its second straight victory.

The Penguins dropped their eighth straight to fall to 14-11-9.

Stuart Skinner stopped 17 shots in his second start for Pittsburgh. He allowed five goals in a 6-4 loss to Edmonton in his Pittsburgh debut Tuesday night after being acquired from Edmonton.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby remained at 1,722 career points, one shy of idol and mentor Mario Lemieux for the franchise lead. Pittsburgh was shut out for the second consecutive game, also falling 4-0 to Ottawa on Thursday night.

Slafkovsky, after keeping the play alive with a stick-check, ripped a shot into the top corner off a pass from Cole Caufield on the power play to open the scoring with 3:19 left in the first period.

Beck doubled the lead with 1:11 remaining in the period after blowing by a falling Parker Wotherspoon and firing a shot over Skinner’s left shoulder.

Midway through the second period, Anderson scored on a short-handed goal on a breakaway.

 

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Justin Brazeau (16) tries to tip the puck in front of Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) and Nick Jensen (3) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP)

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Linus Ullmark made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season, Brady Tkachuk scored twice and the Ottawa Senators beat the Pittsburgh 4-0 on Thursday night to extend the Penguins’ losing streak to seven.

David Perron and Claude Giroux also scored, with Perron reaching 800 career points.

Arturs Silovs made 22 saves for Pittsburgh. The Penguins are 0-3-4 on the seven-game streak. They last won on Dec. 4.

Early in the second period, Perron redirected Jordan Spence’s shot from the goal line for a 2–0 lead. Just over three minutes later, Giroux took a pass in front, spun and beat Silovs.

Ottawa opened the scoring on the power play with Tim Stutzle finding Drake Batherson down low for a backdoor feed to Tkachuk at the side of the net. Tkachuk also scored in the third.

Up next

Senators: Host Chicago on Saturday.

Penguins: At Montreal on Saturday night.

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) and Nick Schmaltz (8) celebrate after their team defeated the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dylan Guenther scored 42 seconds into overtime and the Utah Mammoth rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Sunday.

Guenther, who has five goals in his last four games, beat Sergei Murashov with a wrist shot from the slot. Utah won its second straight following a three-game losing streak.

Michael Carcone scored twice for Utah, while Nate Schmidt and Sean Durzi also added third-period goals, as the Mammoth briefly pulled ahead, 4-3, after trailing 3-0 entering the final 20 minutes.

Karel Vejmelka made 12 saves.

Justin Brazeau scored twice for Pittsburgh and Bryan Rust scored in his third straight game. Ben Kindel also scored on a breakaway and added two assists.

Sidney Crosby’s four-game point streak ended and he remains within two of tying Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for career points.

Kris Letang had an assist to pass Hall of Famer Borje Salming for the 21st-most points by a defenseman in NHL history.

Murashov stopped 32 shots.

Pittsburgh earned a point for the ninth time in 11 games, but the Penguins lost their fifth straight. The Penguins, who are 1-9 in overtime, blew a 5-1 third-period lead against San Jose on Saturday and lost to Anaheim earlier this week after the Ducks forced overtime with one-tenth of a second left.

Utah needed just six minutes to erase a three-goal deficit and take a brief third-period lead.

Schmidt scored off a rebound at 1:07 of the third and Carcone scored his first goal at 1:22 when he banked his own rebound off Murashov’s back. Durzi tied the game at 5:35 on a shot through traffic. Pittsburgh challenged it for goaltender interference. When the goal was upheld, Carcone gave the Mammoth a 4-3 lead with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle.

Brazeau tied it at 14:06 when he tipped Erik Karlsson’s point shot behind Vejmelka.

Pittsburgh played again without goaltender Stuart Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak, who were acquired Friday from Edmonton in a trade for Tristan Jarry and Sam Poulin. Skinner and Kulak were granted non-roster status to settle the immigration process.

Up next

Mammoth: Continue a three-game road trip Tuesday at Boston.

Penguins: Close a five-game homestand Tuesday against Edmonton.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: San Jose Sharks defenseman John Klingberg reaches for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — John Klingberg capped off a frantic late rally by scoring his second goal of the game 2:57 into overtime to lift the San Jose Sharks to an improbable 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

Klingberg’s seventh of the season off a feed from Macklin Celebrini gave the Sharks their first victory in the franchise’s 34-year history when trailing by four goals in the third.

San Jose trailed 5-1 with less than 14 minutes to go. Klingberg and William Eklund scored to get the Sharks back in it, and Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli beat Pittsburgh goalie Arturs Silovs with the goaltender pulled to force overtime.

Toffoli, whose tying goal came with 1:38 to play, finished with two goals and two assists. Celebrini had a goal and two assists to push his season point total to 44.

Yaroslav Askarov withstood a second-period deluge from Pittsburgh and finished with 38 saves as San Jose finished a five-game road trip at 3-2.

Sidney Crosby scored a goal and added an assist to move within two of Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for career points. Crosby beat Askarov in the first period for his 19th goal of the season and assisted on Bryan Rust’s power-play goal in the second to push his career point total to 1,721.

Kevin Hayes, Rutger McGroarty and Anthony Mantha also scored for the Penguins. Rickard Rakell played 22:12 in his return from a 20-game absence due to a hand injury. Silovs stopped 26 shots as Pittsburgh dropped its fourth straight.

The Penguins fell to 1-8 in overtime and are winless through three games of a season-long five-game homestand. The first loss came against Anaheim on Tuesday when the Ducks forced overtime with one-tenth of a second left.

The loss marked the first time the Penguins blew a four-goal lead in the third period since March 10, 1976.

Up next

Sharks: Begin a three-game homestand on Tuesday against Calgary.

Penguins: Host Utah on Sunday.

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) reaches for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Montréal Canadiens, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jacob Fowler made 33 saves in his NHL debut and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Thursday night.

Montreal gave the rookie plenty of support, as Alexandre Texier, Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield staked the Canadiens to a 3-0 lead through two periods. Oliver Kapanen also scored to help Montreal snap a two-game skid.

Bryan Rust scored and Erik Karlsson had a power-play goal for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby added an assist and is now four points from breaking Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for points. Lemieux is ninth all-time in NHL history.

Tristan Jarry stopped 25 shots for Pittsburgh, which lost its third straight and saw a four-game point streak end.

Montreal recalled the 21-year-old Fowler from Laval of the AHL after Tuesday’s 6-1 home loss against Tampa Bay. In that game, Jakub Dobes allowed three goals on 11 shots and Sam Montembeault gave up three goals on 10 shots in relief.

Montreal allowed more than five goals in three of its previous six games before recalling Fowler, the No. 69 overall pick in 2023. He played two NCAA seasons at Boston College and was 10-5 with a .919 save percentage and a 2.09 goals-against average with Laval.

Kapanen scored 15 seconds after Rust made it 3-1 to give Fowler and the Canadiens a three-goal lead in the third period.

Texier gave Fowler and the Canadiens an early lead. He stripped Penguins’ D Kris Letang of the puck at the blueline and beat Jarry with a glove-side wrist shot 2:54 into the game.

Gallagher put Montreal ahead 2-0 at 4:37 of the second period. He took a cross-ice pass from Lane Hutson and fired a wrist shot that beat Jarry high and to the blocker side.

Caufield added a power-play goal for a 3-0 lead at 10:18. He was behind the goal when he banked a shot off Jarry’s skates and into the net.

Up next

Canadiens: Visit the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Penguins: Continue a five-game homestand Saturday against San Jose.

 

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ville Husso (33) blocks a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ben Kindel during the first period of an NHL hockey game, in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Beckett Sennecke scored a short-handed goal with 1 second remaining to force overtime, Leo Carlsson scored in the shootout and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night for their fifth win in seven games.

The 19-year-old Sennecke eluded three defenders and his shot deflected off the glove of Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson and into the net. A replay review confirmed the shot beat the buzzer.

Ville Husso made 45 saves, including seven in overtime, and stopped all three shots in the shootout.

Jackson LaCombe and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks. Noel Acciari, Tommy Novak and Anthony Mantha scored for the Penguins, and Arturs Silovs stopped 25 shots as Pittsburgh suffered its second consecutive shootout loss.

Mantha put the Penguins ahead 3-2 on the power play with 3:55 remaining. Sidney Crosby won a faceoff and assisted on Mantha’s goal for his 1,717th career point, moving him within five of Mario Lemieux’s franchise record.

Novak poked in a rebound of his own shot with 19 seconds left in the second period to tie it at 2-all, extending his goal streak to four games.

LaCombe scored from a nearly impossible angle in the second period to make it 1-all. He was nearly parallel with the goal line when he flicked the puck between Silovs’ head and the near post.

Terry put the Ducks ahead 2-1 later in the second when he secured a bouncing puck and slammed it past Silovs.

Sennecke assisted on LaCombe’s goal. The rookie has 26 points in 30 games, becoming the fastest teenager in Ducks history to reach 25 points. Mason McTavish took 40 games to reach the mark in 2022-23.

Up next

Ducks: At the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Penguins: Host Montreal on Thursday night.

 

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) looks back after allowing a goal to Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (not shown) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

DALLAS (AP) — Mikko Rantanen’s final-round score was the only goal of the shootout and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves as the Dallas Stars beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Sunday night.

After Rantanen beat Tristan Jarry stick side, Oettinger stopped Kris Letang to end the game and record his league-high 14th win.

Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored 6-on-5 to tie the score 2-2 with 1:49 left in regulation and Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars, who have won three consecutive games and are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games.

Dallas’ 45 points are second in the league but three behind NHL-best Colorado in the Central Division.

Thomas Novak and fourth-liner Connor Dewar scored for the Penguins, who are 0-4 in shootouts this season. Jarry, who stopped 21 shots, lost for the first time in his last five starts.

Penguins star Evgeni Malkin, whose 29 points are second to Sidney Crosby’s 30 on the team this season, missed his first game this season. Malkin is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Heiskanen has scored in three straight games for the first time in his eight NHL seasons.

Benn, Dallas’ captain, has four goals and nine points in 11 games after missing the Stars’ first 19 games following late-September surgery for a collapsed lung.

Dallas killed both power plays by Pittsburgh’s league-leading unit, extending its streak of successful kills to 27 dating to Nov. 22.

Stars forward Matt Duchene, who led Dallas last season with 82 points, and defenseman Nils Lundkvist returned after both were sidelined by injury since mid-October.

A moment of silence was observed before the game for former Stars owner Tom Hicks, who died Saturday at age 79. Hicks owned the franchise 1995-2011, with Dallas winning the 1999 Stanley Cup.

Up next

Penguins: Begin a season-long five-game homestand on Tuesday against Anaheim.

Stars: Take a 10-1-4 road record to Winnipeg on Tuesday.