Kris Letang ended a long and frustrating power play drought for the Pittsburgh Penguins less than seven minutes into the first period, but that was the last positive Dan Bylsma’s club would take away from Toronto on Saturday evening.
A 1-0 lead was erased when the Maple Leafs (8-4-0) tied the game on a short-handed goal ten minutes later and, after a scoreless second, the home team netted three unanswered goals to secure a 4-1 victory over the Penguins (7-4-0). Toronto now leads the Eastern Conference with 16 points while Pittsburgh still leads the Metropolitan Division with 14 points, despite losing three straight.
Letang’s goal was his first of the season and came in his second game, after returning Friday after an injury forced him to miss nine games. Later in the first period, though, Letang was among the Penguins caught flat-footed on a turnover in the Maple Leafs zone that led to the short-handed goal by Dave Bolland. Nazem Kadri and Phil Kessel added third-period goals to take a 3-1 lead, and Bolland found an empty net inside the final minute. The star of the game, however, was Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer, who returned after missing three games due to illness. Reimer made 37 saves on 38 shots to earn his third win in five starts this season. Counterpart Marc-Andre Fleury lost his second-straight start after sitting since Monday’s loss to Colorado.
Pittsburgh outshot Toronto 38-30, including a second period advantage of 16-4 that produced no such advantage on the scoreboard. Toronto had the edge in the final period by out-shooting the Penguins 13-7 and scoring three times. Each team was 1-3 on the power play, but the short-handed goal proved costly to Pittsburgh as Toronto was unable to score on even strength until the third period. Toronto was physical with the Penguins, leading the hits battle by a wide margin, 45-26. Also, veteran Rob Scuderi left in the first period with what the team is calling a lower-body injury.
The Penguins have now not won in a week (since 10/19 vs. Vancouver) and will try to end a season-long three-game losing streak at Carolina on Monday. They then return home to host Boston and Columbus.
