Penguins' bottom six 'stuck it to them' in win over Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Kyle Dubas said prior to the start of the regular season that he believes the Penguins "have to get away" from the idea that the bottom-six has to be defense-first. They need balance, and that's something that had been lacking in recent years

"We need to score in that group," Dubas explained. "We need to defend our ass off with that group too, don't get me wrong, all through our lineup. But we need guys that are able to produce as well."

The Penguins are doing just that through this early stretch of the season, with the bottom six leading the way in the Penguins' 6-3 win over the Canadiens here in Montreal on Monday night. It was the third line's Lars Eller who scored the game's opening goal and second-period tying goal after the Canadiens pushed back, and the fourth line's Kevin Hayes who scored the go-ahead goal in the third.

Eller's first goal came courtesy of a pass from Jesse Puljujarvi, who flew up the left side of the ice before finding Eller in the slot:

That Eller-Puljujarvi connection that started in the preseason was reunited on Monday after Puljujarvi spent the previous game as a healthy scratch. To get back into the lineup and contribute in a meaningful way almost immediately did a lot for Puljujarvi's confidence, who previously spoke about how "hard" it was to sit on the sidelines and vowed to be ready for when he got back into the game.

"It's a good thing," Puljujarvi said. "Our line got the goal and helped the team win. It's good stuff. It's always good when we can score from the third- and fourth-line to help the team."

Rickard Rakell doubled the lead just under 10 minutes later, but a late first-period goal from the Canadiens' Kaiden Guhle beat Tristan Jarry to cut the Penguins' lead in half. Montreal tied the game in the second period off a power-play goal from Juraj Slafkovsky, and gained the lead later in the frame from a goal from Emil Heineman.

It was Eller again who ensured that the Penguins went into second intermission with a tie game, beating Slafkovsky wide off the rush then sniping a shot over the glove of Sam Montembeault:

Mike Sullivan called Eller's pair of goals "huge" -- not just for the outcome of the game, but for Eller personally.

"We ask him to do a lot of the thankless jobs," Sullivan said. "He gets a lot of D zone starts, he kills penalties, he plays against top lines in difficult situations. Those types of assignments don't always show up in the scoresheet. So when a guy like Lars has the ability to score a couple of goals, I know it means a lot to him. It's great for his confidence, but it's great for the team. I think his teammates see the effort that he puts in and the pride he puts into his overall game. He's just a good pro, and he plays the game the right way. His whole approach and how he goes about his business every day, I think his body of work in the league speaks for itself."

Those "thankless jobs" were still given to Eller's line with Puljujarvi and Drew O'Connor on Monday in addition to that offense -- they were the only line that was not on the ice for a single offensive zone faceoff. But the Penguins still managed to control 66.67% (12-6) of all shot attempts with them on the ice and 85.71% (6-1) of all shots on goal.

The Hayes goal to give the Penguins the lead came off of a set play that resulted in Hayes in the right place at the right time:

"(Erik Karlsson) kind of skated in the zone and dumped it low," Hayes told me. "(Noel Acciari) had a good forecheck. I hit the guy, they rimmed it out to him, and then Karl just threw it at the net and hit a couple bodies, and I was there by myself."

Hayes, too, does some of those "thankless jobs," especially in this game -- two takeaways, two hits and a perfect 4-0 in draws while seeing three of his shifts start in the defensive zone and none in the offensive zone. The same goes for Acciari, who led the Penguins with four blocked hits and added a blocked shot, too. That's par for the course for Acciari, who by far leads the Penguins in rate of hits this season at 12.06 per 60 minutes of ice time -- nearly four more hits than the next-highest-hitting Penguin. His 3.62 blocked shots per 60 minutes ranks second among Penguins forwards, just trailing O'Connor's 4.08/60. Those are quiet contributions that are key in the bottom-six and on the penalty-kill, but aren't showing up on a scoresheet. But in this case, it was one of those hits that led directly to a goal.

The Penguins got contributions from their top guys in this game, of course. The second line had a pair of goals with the tally from Rickard Rakell and Evgeni Malkin's empty-netter to seal the win, and Kris Letang scored in the third period as well. But this win doesn't happen without the bottom-six stepping up offensively.

"Everyone wants to score every night," Hayes said. "I think that's the main goal. But it's nice when your bottom-six is helping out. I thought in the first and third, we kind of really stuck it to them. We had a lot of good looks. In the second, they kind of brought it to us, but we weathered the storm and came away with two big points."

Outside of Eller's 31 points last season, the Penguins were really lacking in offense from their bottom two lines over the course of the season. They just didn't have the personnel. Smaller changes -- like adding Puljujarvi and his speed and size to the third line, or a 54-point contributor only two seasons ago in Hayes to the fourth line, the Penguins seem to be getting a little more out of everybody in the bottom six. And if they can keep that up, it'll go a long way over the course of the season.