Penguins 6, Canadiens 5: Novak Wins It After a 5-1 Lead Melts

October 3, 2026 - Pittsburgh - It was 5-1 late in the second. It was 5-5 with 44 seconds left in the third. Then Tommy Novak took a 2-on-1 from Evgeni Malkin at 1:33 of overtime and ended it.

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Montréal Canadiens 6-5 in overtime at PPG Paints Arena. Pittsburgh is 2-0-0. Montreal is 1-0-1. Mario Lemieux dropped a ceremonial puck for the club's 60th season, the AP recap said. Then the hockey got loud.

Malkin scored a power-play goal and added two assists. The AP recap put him at 1,411 career points, past Dale Hawerchuk for 22nd in NHL history. Sidney Crosby had an assist, his 1,109th, tied with Joe Thornton for seventh all time.

Four in the second, and Montreal still had a pulse

Cole Caufield scored first at 3:49 from Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson. 1-0 Montreal. Malkin tied it at 14:07 on the power play from Kris Letang and Hendrix Lapierre.

The second period was Pittsburgh's. Declan Carlile scored 32 seconds in from Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson. Samuel Girard made it 3-1 at 7:59 from Crosby and Kaedan Korczak. Novak scored at 14:01 from Egor Chinakhov and Malkin. Ben Kindel, activated from injured reserve, scored on the power play at 15:32 from Karlsson and Novak. 5-1. The AP recap said Pittsburgh outshot Montreal 23-5 in a 25-minute stretch.

Suzuki scored at 18:46 of the second from Hutson and Noah Dobson. 5-2. That was the first crack.

1:08, then 44 seconds, then overtime

Caufield scored again at 3:31 of the third from Chris Kreider. 5-3. Kreider scored at 18:52 from Suzuki and Ivan Demidov. 5-4. Demidov tied it at 19:16 from Suzuki and Hutson. 5-5. Montreal had trailed by four and forced overtime with 44 seconds left. The AP recap noted Montreal was trying to win its first two games of a season for the first time since 2015-16.

Novak ended it at 1:33 of OT. Malkin and Letang on the play. Arturs Silovs stopped 20 of 25 in 61:33. Jakub Dobes stopped 24 of 30 in 59:04 and took the overtime loss. Shots finished 30-25 Pittsburgh. Hutson played 29:06. Suzuki played 22:43 with a goal and three assists.

Attendance was 18,382. Montreal starts a four-game homestand Tuesday against Carolina. Pittsburgh hosts Winnipeg on Monday, then plays six of its next seven on the road.

AthX Engine on a 6-5 overtime

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) pays 12 for a win and 6 for an overtime loss, then 2.2 per goal for and minus 1.0 per goal against. Pittsburgh is 20.20. Montreal is 11.00, the only regulation-or-OT loser on this recap set that cleared the floor with real credit.

Suzuki's goal, three assists, and four shots are 13.90, the top skater in this game and second on the Saturday board. Novak is 12.80. Malkin is 10.10 (power-play goal, two assists, a shot, a block, 2 PIM). Caufield is 9.80. Hutson is 9.80. Demidov is 8.30. Kindel is 7.50. Carlile's goal, three shots, and three blocks are 7.30. He is not seeded on AthX player pages yet, so the name stays unlinked. Silovs is 5.00. Dobes is 2.90 with the overtime-loss credit.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for Suzuki after a four-point comeback that still lost, and for Novak after the extra-session winner. They are not the same number.

Track Novak, Suzuki, Malkin, and both clubs on the marketplace.

*Sources: AP recap (ESPN), ESPN box score, NHL.com scoreboard, NHL gamecenter boxscore 2026020026. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from that verified box. Information only; not financial advice.*