TORONTO — What happened? The Pittsburgh Penguins (8-4-2) dominated the first two periods and tripled the Toronto Maple Leafs on the shot clock. And led by three on the scoreboard, too.
And then, they didn’t. And then, it all crashed around them.
An explosive burst of offense and life by the Toronto Maple Leafs early in the third period erased the Penguins’ lead in just 3:24. By 6:55 of the third period, the Penguins’ swagger had become a case of Uh Oh.
The Penguins never regained their footing, and Toronto got the winner later in the third period when Bobby McMann beat Owen Pickering to the net, then got his own rebound and quickly shot it past Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry at 13:43 for the game winner.
Toronto scored four unanswered goals for the 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena Monday.
Penguins coach Dan Muse gave the boys a day off Sunday following their Saturday afternoon splat against the Winnipeg Jets in the third leg of their four-game road trip.
“I think we played it a little too safe. I think we ran out of gas, which is unfortunate,” Karlsson said. “They’re a good team and I think we played two good periods to start and then got on our heels and couldn’t find a way there.”
Monday, the Penguins flexed every muscle they had for 40 minutes, and a couple that they’re just discovering as rookie Ben Kindel snapped a pair of goals.
The Penguins were not only ahead, they were thoroughly dominating.
“We got away from it. We felt the first two periods were the way we wanted to be playing,” said coach Dan Muse. “It has to be a full 60 (minutes), though. We got away from it there. I think it was a number of different factors. I think when they took momentum there, we weren’t able to at least pause the momentum. They kept coming, and then we’re back on our heels, and we can’t play the game that way.”
The Penguins potted a pair of first-period markers against their Canadian hosts. Perhaps to their benefit, the Penguins’ lines were revolving because of an early injury to fourth-line winger Noel Acciari.
Acciari did not return, and Muse did not have an update following the game.
Later in the first period, Philip Tomasino went straight ahead on the center drive, which opened the smallest sliver of a passing lane for Sidney Crosby, who characteristically made the perfect cross-ice pass to Erik Karlsson on the right wing.
Karlsson (1) ripped a top-corner wrist shot past Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz from the right dot at 13:08.
Late in the period, Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea stepped forward from the blue line to the left circle. Stolarz made the initial save on Shea’s wrister, but the rebound fluttered high in the air. Referees correctly ruled that a Toronto defender high-sticked the puck, which then caromed off Ben Kindel (4) into the net.
It wasn’t Kindel’s prettiest goal, but a review quickly confirmed the order of events and the goal at 17:56.
It was a role reversal from Winnipeg on Saturday when the Penguins trailed 2-0 in the first period.
It was also a role reversal from one of the worst losses of this Penguins era and the iceberg of the 2023-24 season, which occurred on Dec. 16, 2023, when Toronto beat the Penguins 7-0 in front of a national TV audience.
It was a role reversal until it wasn’t.
Midway through the second period, the shots were 16-6, but the Penguins had 38 shot attempts compared to Toronto’s 14 (at even strength). The shot clock was even more lopsided by the end of the period, but not before more Kindel.
On the power play, Kindel (5) scored his second goal of the game when he unleashed a vicious shortside wrister that echoed off the post before it could be seen at 11:50 of the second.
By the end of the second period, the Penguins were outshooting Toronto 24-8, and had 44 shot attempts to just 19 (at even strength).
The Penguins’ lines were scrambled early in the first period, and perhaps worked to their benefit as Evgeni Malkin and Crosby spent significant time on the same line to extreme results.
The line was only scored with five scoring chances in the first two periods, but had considerable offensive zone time.
The Penguins’ least-used player through two periods was Jarry, whose mask could have been a Maytag repairman’s hat for 40 minutes. However, things got very interesting early in the third period when Toronto scored a pair of goals 76 seconds apart.
Toronto got the Penguins in man-to-man coverage in the neutral zone, and a stretch pass from Jake McCabe to Auston Matthews got Matthews (7) behind Crosby for a breakaway goal at 3:31 of the third period.
Then 1:16 later, Jarry appeared to lose the puck in traffic as William Nylander skated laterally through the slot and beat Jarry with a backhander at 4:47.
Suddenly, an absolute squash became a hyper-competitive contest with an uncertain winner.
Toronto completed the comeback when Nylander beat Jarry cleanly with a slapshot from the point at 6:55.
Jarry stopped 16 of 20 shots. Stolarz stopped 34 of 37 as the hockey gods took one back from the Penguins. Malkin led all players with eight shots on goal. Kindel had seven.
Penguins Notes
Winger Justin Brazeau missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
Harrison Brunicke played his ninth NHL game. If he plays one more, that will active his entry-level contract.
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Categorized: Penguins Postgame