Just like their previous contest against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins hung around all game and pounced in the third period to top the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 on nd Thursday night to extend their winning streak to seven games.
There wasn’t much that could be said for the first period. Shots were limited, and there weren’t many scoring opportunities. Both Pittsburgh and Toronto got chances on the power play, but no dice. Toronto took their 9-6 lead in shots into the break.
The second period wasn’t much better, as the only action occurred at 10:01 when Tyler Bozak broke the scoreless tie thanks, in part, to great passing from Phil Kessel and Cody Franson. It was his seventh of the year. Going into the second intermission, the Maple Leafs held a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 17-16 in shots.
For the second game in a row, the Penguins entered the third period playing from behind against a goaltender they have never seen before in Ben Scrivens. And, like they did on Tuesday, Pittsburgh took the game over in the final period. The closing frame turned into a Pascal Dupuis party at 12:42 when he took a ridiculous pass from Sidney Crosby to tie the game at one. Dupuis wasn’t done there. At 17:50, Dupuis gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead when he beat Scrivens with a wrist shot from the slot, his thirteenth of the season. Craig Adams sealed the victory with the empty net goal on the penalty kill for Pittsburgh’s first shorthanded goal of the year.
After their one game trip to Toronto, the Penguins return home to Pittsburgh for eight of their next ten games. Their next game is Saturday afternoon (1:00 pm/est; ROOT, NHL Network) against John Tortorella and a struggling New York Rangers squad.
Notes:
-The Penguins held Clarke MacArthur scoreless for the first time in forever.
-Toronto was 0/3 on the power play.
-Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz are not 1-2 in the Art Ross trophy race.
-Marc-Andre Fleury is now ranked 50th for most wins in NHL history (via Empty netters).
1. Sidney Crosby (2 assists)
2. Pascal Dupuis (2 goals)
3. Marc-Andre Fleury (28 saves, .966 save %)
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