• Who: Penguins (12-6-5) vs. Maple Leafs (10-11-3)
• What: NHL regular season, Game 24
• When: 7:15 p.m.
• Where: PPG Paints Arena
• Goaltenders: Arturs Silovs (4-3-4, .907 SV%) vs. Dennis Hildeby (0-2-1, .906 SV%)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh, NHL Network (national)
• Stream: SNP360 (local)
• Radio: Penguins Radio Network
• Boxscore: NHL.com
• Media notes: Penguins | Maple Leafs
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Final: Leafs 7, Penguins 2.
• Hayes draws tripping penalty with 3:31 to play.
• Down five, 5:42 to play and now the Penguins are pushing bodies in a scrum. Mantha and McCabe go off for two.
• GOAL: Robertson, five-hole. Leafs, 7-2.
• GOAL: Matthews scores his 10th of the season on a wrist shot that looked like Rust screened Jarry. It was a nice shot. Leafs, 6-2.
• The Penguins almost answered with another as Malkin couldn’t connect on the cross-crease pass from Mantha.
• GOAL: Crosby scores on the backhand, setup by Hayes. Leafs, 5-2.
• The third period is underway. Jarry stays in net.
• End second period: Well… the period ended, let’s go with that. Penguins lead 20-15 shots.
• Graves misplays the puck on a pinch in the offensive zone. The Leafs go the other way drawing a Rust penalty for holding with 1:03 left in the second period.
• A scoring change announced on Kindel’s goal with Crosby and Rust picking up assists.
• GOAL: Domi knocked the puck away from Jarry at the side of the net and finds Roy wide open for an easy power play goal. Leafs, 5-1.
• Jarry with an acrobatic save or two with Knies around the net causing havoc and Tavares shooting from the slot.
• Wotherspoon called for roughing after the whistle to send the Leafs on the power play with 7:55 left in the second period.
• That was not the best of shifts between Malkin and Karlsson. A little too risky with the puck almost caught the team twice.
• Koivunen with a beautiful saucer pass to Kindel’s blade as he skated in for the quick shot but Hildeby got over in time.
• A merciful TV timeout to slow things down for the Penguins, who lead 14-9 on the shot counter. Muse mentioned he didn’t like portions of the team’s play last night, including a lack of physicality. Down 4-1 would warrant a response.
• GOAL: Joshua scores 4:53 into the period on a turnaround shot in close. Too many turnovers for the Penguins inside their zone. That will do it for Silovs as Jarry will replace him. Leafs, 4-1.
• GOAL: A Novak pass back to Graves is mishandled, he looses the puck, and the Leafs take advantage with a McCann deflection over Silovs. Leafs, 3-1.
• The second period is underway.
• Leafs came into tonight’s game fourth in the NHL in hits/60 minutes. The Penguins are dead last with 15.42 per 60. Tonight, Leafs lead 8-4 after one period.
• End first period: The Leafs hold the 2-1 lead after one period of play and the Penguins have a 10-7 edge in shots on goal.
• Lizotte misses on a shorthanded breakaway.
• Penguins don’t score on the power play, though they had three quality shots with the first unit on the ice. Kindel and Crosby with chances in front. The next shift, Dewar called for hooking with 1:48 left in the period.
• Penguins with two good shifts in the offensive zone draw a penalty on Domi for hooking with 4:34 to play in the first period.
• Novak’s wrist shot in the slot is blockered away by Hildeby.
• GOAL: Cowan’s scores on a one-timer into an empty net as Silov’s was off looking elsewhere. Nylander credited with the assist on the quick giveback. Maple Leafs, 2-1.
• The Penguins lead 4-2 in shots with 9:17 left in the first period. I’m not sure that’s accurate but we’re not scorekeeping.
• GOAL: Malkin draws a penalty on Mermis, a quick power play goal for Kindel knocking the puck out of the air. Tied, 1-1.
• GOAL: A loose puck to Ekman-Larsson, he wrists one that easily beats Silovs at 6:46. Leafs, 1-0
• Heinen had time and space, his pass goes out of the zone to lose possession. It is plays like this that have to drive a coaching staff nuts.
• Malkin with a wrist shot up high in the left circle gloved by Hildeby.
• Faceoff: Penguins vs. Maple Leafs, 7:15 p.m., Crosby vs. Matthews
• Leafs defensemen Simon Benoit will not be in the lineup tonight. He left the team for personal reasons. Nylander checks into the lineup after missing last night’s game with an illness.
• Lines and pairings for Dan Muse’s Penguins:
Kevin Hayes – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin – Anthony Mantha
Danton Heinen – Ben Kindel – Ville Koivunen
Joona Koppanen – Blake Lizotte – Connor Dewar
Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea – Kris Letang
Ryan Graves – Matt Dumba
• Lines and pairings for Craig Berube’s Maple Leafs:
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Nick Robertson
Easton Cowan – John Tavares – William Nylander
Dakota Joshua – Nicolas Roy – Bobby McMann
Max Domi – Scott Laughton – Steven Lorentz
Morgan Reilly – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe – Troy Stecher
Dakota Mermis – Philippe Myers