Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta scored unassisted goals within less than a minute of each other at 5:49 and 6:28 of the first period and it was just enough to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-3-0, 4 pts) to victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-4-1, 3 pts), 2-1 at Consol Energy Center on Saturday.
Taking that early 2-0 lead, the Penguins offense went quiet against Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier the rest of the way. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed a goal to Leo Kamarov at 13:09 of the first period, but would join Bernier in shutting the door the rest of the way. The final two periods went scoreless despite numerous power play opportunities for both sides.
Pittsburgh’s power play went 0-5 in the game and is now 0-17 on the young season. The unit even had an opportunity in the final minute plus with an empty net, and still could not score.
Regardless, the Penguins have won two in a row and have now allowed less than two goals per game to the opposition through the first five matches. The defense was largely expected to be a weakness, but it has been the offense that has struggled to find a rhythm through the first week and a half of the season. Malkin played an excellent game, scoring his second goal in as many games. Sidney Crosby remains without a point, setting a career-long streak now with six consecutive games (dating back to last season) without a point. Former Maple Leaf Phil Kessel had a quiet night, registering just two shots in 20 minutes of ice time. Crosby took just one shot in about as much ice time.
Fleury was strong in net, stopping 26 of 27 shots. Bernier, after allowing two early shots to go in, stopped the other 31 in what turned out to be a solid effort. He, however, fell to 0-3-0 on the season while Fleury is now 2-3-0. He has started every game for the Penguins. The team now has two days off before a fourth consecutive game in a five-game stretch at Consol, playing host to the Florida Panthers (3-2-0) on Tuesday and Dallas on Thursday.
