Pittsburgh Penguins PPG PAINTS Arena (3rd)Metropolitan(40-23)

Artturi Lehkonen broke a scoreless tie with 4:11 left in regulation and Carey Price stopped all 22 shots he faced Friday as the Montreal Canadiens posted a 2-0 win that eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins in a qualifying round series in Toronto.

Montreal, seeded 12th and last in the Eastern Conference, won the best-of-five series 3-1. The Canadiens' opponent in the upcoming first round has not been determined.

Pittsburgh, seeded fifth, got its only win in Game 2.

During a delayed penalty, Montreal winger Paul Byron carried the puck nearly behind the Penguins' net before dishing a backhand shot out to Lehkonen, who banged the puck in from the low slot with Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry drawn over to the post by Byron.

Shea Weber added an empty-net goal with 32 seconds remaining.

The Penguins, in a mild surprise, opted to give 25-year-old Jarry his first NHL postseason start after Matt Murray was in net for the first three games of the series. Murray has the experience -- he has won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins -- but Jarry at times supplanted Murray as the go-to starter during the season and was named to the All-Star Game.

Jarry made 20 saves.

Both teams played a tight game in the first period, with Pittsburgh holding an 8-5 edge in shots.

Montreal opened things up a little bit in the second, with the Penguins still keeping a fairly tight rein on things. Each team failed to convert on a power play that period.

Pittsburgh's best chance through two periods came at 8:36 of the second. With Montreal caught in a line change, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel had a two-on-one against Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry. Guentzel carried the puck behind the net and passed out the other side to Crosby. Price made a pad save on Crosby's 12-foot shot.

Crosby, who has captained Pittsburgh to three Stanley Cups, was playing on his 33rd birthday.

At the midpoint of the game, the shots were even at 10-10, and after the second Pittsburgh was ahead 13-11.

Jarry made a sharp glove save at 3:29 of the third on Brendan Gallagher's shot from the slot on a short breakaway.

--Field Level Media