Malkin fuels Penguins in victory over Leafs
Toronto held without a shot over final 25 minutes
PITTSBURGH The Pittsburgh Penguins spent the first 25 minutes against the Toronto Maple Leafs showcasing all of their flaws, from defensive breakdowns to spotty goaltending to questionable decision-making.
Then they spent the next 40 providing a reminder why they remain one of the most potent teams in the NHL.
Evgeni Malkin picked up his first two-goal game in more than 18 months and added the game-winner in the shootout and Pittsburgh rallied by the stunned Maple Leafs 6-5 on Wednesday night.
“That game was all over the place,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said.
So was Bylsma’s team, which fell behind 4-1 and 5-3 — looking comical at times in the process — before getting its act together in the third period.
Malkin and James Neal both scored in the third to tie it up, with Malkin and Sidney Crosby beating Toronto’s Jonathan Bernier in the shootout as Pittsburgh narrowly avoided its third three-game losing streak of the season.
“Give everyone credit for sticking with it, because that first 25 minutes is as ugly as it gets,” Crosby said.
Chris Conner and Kris Letang also scored for Pittsburgh while Crosby added two assists to lift his point total to a league-leading 33. Rookie Jeff Zatkoff stopped 11 of 13 shots after replacing ineffective starter Marc-Andre Fleury less than a minute into the second period.
“Jeff came in and made the stops he needed to make and played heads up,” Bylsma said.
Having the third period off helped too. Toronto didn’t record a single shot over the final 25 minutes of play and went 0 for 2 in the shootout.
James van Riemsdyk scored twice and added an assist for the Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri also scored for Toronto, but the Maple Leafs lost their way after taking a big lead.
“I thought we did some good things for parts of the game, but obviously against a team like that you give them an inch and they’re going to take it all,” van Riemsdyk said.
While the Maple Leafs fizzled, there were no problems for the Penguins, who peppered Bernier with a seasonhigh 48 shots. The goaltender made 43 stops, but went just 1 for 3 in the shootout.
The Penguins have won 12 straight games against goaltenders making their first career starts against Pittsburgh.