Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist (left) and teammate Sidney Crosby celebrate a goal in the shootout against Montreal Canadiens in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. (USA TODAY Sports)

By Jonathan Bombulie/The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (TNS)


Pascal Dupuis knows a thing or two about comebacks.
His was dramatic Wednesday night. The one his team authored wasn’t too bad, either.
Patric Hornqvist scored the tying goal late in the third period to lead the Penguins to a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens at Consol Energy Center.
It was the first win for the Penguins in a game they trailed after two periods since January 5, 2014. They went 0-31-6 in the interim.
“It feels great,” Dupuis said. “You saw it in us. You saw it behind the bench. You saw it in the crowd.”
After being knocked around in the second period, being outshot 13-1 and falling behind 3-2 on goals by Brendan Gallagher and Brian Flynn, the Penguins got a talking to from coach Mike Johnston.
“Mike came in and gave it to us pretty good,” defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. “We deserved it. We did not play our best. That’s a team that you need to be sharp every shift. We strung together some bad ones. Things started to spiral out of control. We came in after the second period. Mike read us a bit of the riot act. We came out and had a great third.”
The comeback was systematic. Nick Bonino hit a post with 8:45 to go. The Penguins ran their shot total to 10, then 12. Finally, with 6:25 to go, they tied the score.
Hornqvist took a pass from Sidney Crosby, skated up the left wing and, with Dupuis driving to the net, sent a shot that deflected off defenseman Jeff Petry and over the shoulder of goalie Mike Condon.
“We haven’t really played our best for the first 14 games, but we’re still winning games,” Hornqvist said. “Like today, we played good for two periods and we beat the best team in the league. That’s a really strong effort from our side.”
Crosby and David Perron converted their shootout attempts, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped both Canadiens shots he faced to complete the comeback.
“The belief of coming back comes from games like this,” Johnston said. “The next time we’re faced with a situation like this, they can call upon, ‘Hey, remember how we played against Montreal?’ “
Dupuis’ comeback story was written in the opening moments of the first period.
Dupuis was making his return to the lineup after missing two games last weekend while being checked out by doctors for symptoms that might have been related to the blood clot that kept him out most of last season.
They weren’t, and it took Dupuis exactly 13 seconds to show everyone he was feeling fine.
On the first shift of the game, he wrapped a puck around the boards to Crosby at the right half-wall, went to the net, took a return pass and gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.
“It felt great,” Dupuis said. “Starting lineup. Got a big cheer. Got a big cheer when I scored and they announced it. Gives you chills.”
Fleury had an injury scare late in the first period, falling to the ice in distress when Lovejoy’s stick caught him under the left eye during a net-front scramble with 4:47 to go. Jeff Zatkoff made three saves in about two minutes of relief work, then Fleury came back in and finished the game.
“I was just worried for a sec because it was (my eye),” Fleury said. “My dad lost an eye with a stick, so I was a little worried. But it was good. I could see fine.”