Pittsburgh Penguins at Montréal Canadiens: game preview
PittsburghPenguins2026-27: 2-1-0 · 4 pts · 2025-26: 41-25-16 · 98 pts · 10that
MontréalCanadiens2026-27: 1-1-1 · 3 pts · 2025-26: 48-24-10 · 106 pts · 6thEight points apart last season
Pittsburgh finished last season 10th in the league on 98 points. Montréal finished 6th on 106, and the 2025-26 season series went MTL 2-0-1.
Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.
Meeting number 254
Across 253 completed games, Montréal lead the head-to-head 155-73-24.
Last 5 meetings
See all: Last 5 meetings →The table on each meeting night
League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 11 Dec 2025, Pittsburgh were 14th in the league and Montréal 15th. By 3 Oct it was 5th and 10th.
Pittsburgh out-attempted Montréal 343 to 274
Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Montréal Canadiens
Pittsburgh have created the better chances, last 10 games
Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.
This season: 3 games for Pittsburgh, 3 for Montréal. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.
Last 10 games: 10 games for Pittsburgh, 10 for Montréal.
2025-26: 82 games for Pittsburgh, 82 for Montréal.
Power play and penalty kill, season and series
This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.
All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings
Pittsburgh
Small sampleMontréal
Small sampleBryan Rust has 7 points in the last 5 meetings
Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away, then who has produced in the last meetings.
Bryan Rust vs Montréal · game by game
See all: Bryan Rust vs Montréal · game by game →Jakub Dobes has started most of these meetings
Jakub Dobes played 2 of the last 5 meetings with Pittsburgh, with a .852 save percentage. Starters are confirmed on game day.
Expected starter after their game on 29 Oct: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.
Expected starter after their game on 29 Oct: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.
Arturs Silovs
See all: Arturs Silovs →PIT · 2-0-0 in 2026-27 Starter estimate from 28 Oct
Also on the roster, 2026-27: Sergei Murashov .912 (1 GP)
Full game logJakub Dobes
See all: Jakub Dobes →MTL · 1-1-1 in 2026-27 Starter estimate from 28 Oct
Scoring rates point to about 6.9 goals
No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.
Goals in the last 5 meetings
Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.
Scoring rates
Pittsburgh5.002.673.573.27
Montréal4.004.673.453.12Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.
8 on the injury lists
Pittsburgh · injuries
Montréal · injuries
Latest moves
See all: Latest moves →Activated C/RW Benjamin Kindel from injured reserve. Placed C/LW David Gustafsson on waivers.
Assigned F Rutger McGroarty to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
Reinstated C Blake Lizotte from injured reserve.
Placed D Reilly Walsh, D Maksymilian Szuber, D Ethan Samson, C Sam Poulin, RW Sasha Pastujov, C Hunter McKown, G Kaapo Kähkönen, LW Brett Berard, and RW Alex Belzile on waivers for the purpose of loaning them to Laval (AHL).
Signed F Chris Kreider to a one-year contract.
Loaned F Vinzenz Rohrer to EV Zug (Switzerland).
Pittsburgh · 2026 draft
See all: Pittsburgh · 2026 draft →Montréal · 2026 draft
See all: Montréal · 2026 draft →
Updated after every final