Penguins-Maple Leafs postgame

Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:59

Written by Dave Molinari

Final score: Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 2.

Why it matters: Well, aside from guaranteeing that the Penguins won't go 48-0 – not that a whole lot of people were expecting that – this game probably did nothing so much as reinforce the idea that Toronto brings out the very worst the Penguins (2-1) have to offer. Still, it did attract a Consol Energy Center-record crowd of 18,641.

In a nutshell: The Penguins were coming off two fairly solid, though hardly flawless, performances during weekend victories in Philadelphia and New York, but were guilty of poor decision-making and sloppy execution throughout the game. They were shorthanded no fewer than eight times and, even though the Penguins didn't always agree with the judgment of referees Ghislain Hebert and Kelly Sutherland, they kept putting themselves in positions to be penalized. Although the Maple Leafs got just one goal out of all those chances with the extra man, being shorthanded so much made it tough for the Penguins to get key forwards like Evgeni Malkin and James Neal as involved in the game as they would have liked.

Turning point: The game was tied, 2-2, in second period when Evgeni Malkin gave the puck away to Toronto left winger James van Riemsdyk, who buried a shot behind Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for what proved to be the game-winner. Malkin had opened the scoring with his first of the season at 18:51, but it was largely an evening to forget for him. Especially when it ended with a game misconduct assessed after time expired in the third, apparently because Malkin offered an evaluation of the officiating without being asked to do so.

Under the radar: Maple Leafs center Mikhail Grabovski is a somewhat underrated asset for his team, and had an effective, but fairly quiet, night, putting up a goal and an assist while winning 11 of 18 faceoffs.

The brightest star: Maple Leafs left winger James van Riemsdyk scored his team's second and third goals.

The last word: Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, on why his team has so much trouble against Toronto: "They have a lot of speed up front so, transition-wise, they can be really difficult to play against, especially if you don't manage the puck the right way. We have to be better in a lot of areas. "