TORONTO —The Pittsburgh Penguins (8-3-2) burned their eight-game points streak Saturday and face a couple of crossroads beginning Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs (6-5-1) at Scotiabank Arena.
The puck drops just after 7:30 p.m., just down the street from Rogers Center, where the LA Dodgers claimed the World Series in a dramatic Game 7 on Saturday.
The Penguins also crashed off the runway Saturday, giving two goals in the first 2:43 en route to a relatively hapless 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at the Canada Life Centre.
Sidney Crosby and Blake Lizotte scored the Penguins' goals, but the Penguins were never less than two goals behind after the opening salvo.
Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke played his eighth game Saturday, and his next game will be the line of demarcation for the rookie defenseman. After nine games, Brunicke's extra-level contract kicks in.
Coach Dan Muse may have tipped the Penguins' thinking on Brunicke's season:
The Penguins have also been outshot in nine of their previous 13 games, though they have owned the greater number of high-danger chances in seven of the 13 games. It's a complicated issue that Muse downplayed, and Erik Karlsson provided more insights in the Penguins locker room.
"I think shots are sometimes very accurate in how a game was (played). It can also be very misleading. I can take a lot of shots, but get nothing out of them," Karlsson told PHN. "I think it's more about quality over quantity. I think that we are very good at quality-managing our shots. Would we like to get a few more on that? Probably, probably. It would give us a better chance to score more goals, statistically."
After a rough start, Toronto is getting used to life without Mitch Marner , who was the object of a sign-and-trade during the offseason. They have won three of their last four. Saturday, Toronto beat the Philadelphia Flyers , 5-2.
Nick Robertson , Auston Matthews , Easton Cowan , Calle Jarnkrok , and Jake McCabe scored for Toronto. Goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 31 of 33 shots.
Stolarz will start again, Monday. If Muse holds true to the Penguins' rotation, Tristan Jarry will start in net for the Penguins.
Toronto coach Craig Berube confirmed William Nylander will return to the Toronto lineup after missing a couple of games due to injury. Penguins winger Justin Brazeau did not participate in the Penguins' full morning skate–he was the only absence.
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Radio: 105.9 The X
Filip Hallander- Sidney Crosby -Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino
Tommy Novak-Ben Kindel-Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar- Blake Lizotte -Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea-Kris Letang
Owen Pickering- Harrison Brunicke
Goalie: Tristan Jarry, Likely.
Matthew Knies-Austin Matthews-Nick Robertson
Easton Cowan-John Tavares-William Nylander
Jagger Joshua-Nic Roy-Mattias Maccelli
Sammy Blais-Max Domi-Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly-Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit-Jake McCabe
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Philippe Myers
Goalie: Anthony Stolarz, Confirmed.
Penguins' power play: 32.3%, 2nd. Penguins penalty kill: 82.9%, 11th.
Maple Leafs power play: 12.5%, 29th. Maple Leafs penalty kill: 83.3%, 10th.
The Penguins have points in four of their last six games against Toronto, but just two wins. The Penguins are 2-2-2 in their last six vs. Toronto.
Kris Letang has 14 points (3-11-14) in his last 20 games against the TorontoMaple Leafs, and 32 points 5-27-32) in 48 games against them total.
Sidney Crosby has 73 points (30-43-73) in 56 career games against Toronto.
The penalty kill has allowed just one power-play goal against over itslast five games (15-for-16, 93.8%).
The Penguins' 46 goals rank second in the NHL, and the Penguins have the second-best power play in the league (32.3%). Only Edmonton 's Leon Draisaitl (5) and Vegas' Pavel Dorofeyev (5) have more power-play goals this season than Sidney Crosby (4).
The post Penguins Game 14, Blue City; Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs. Maple Leafs appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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