Pens @ Leafs 2-5 - Saturday, March 10, 2018
The Toronto Maple Leafs set their record with a 10th straight home victory, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at Air Canada Centre. Toronto won nine in a row at home from Nov. 11-Dec. 26, 1953, and from March 6-April 7, 2007.
"We want to be real good at home and obviously we want to be real good on the road," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I don't know why sometimes it goes better that way but obviously you want to be comfortable in your own building. It's great for the guys to come and feel good and know they have a chance to win."
Nazem Kadri scored twice, Morgan Rielly had three assists and Frederik Andersen made 38 saves for the Maple Leafs (40-22-7), who had lost four in a row (0-2-2). Toronto trails the Boston Bruins by seven points for second in the Atlantic Division, having played three more games.
"We didn't give ourselves a great chance," Crosby said. "They didn't have a ton of chances, the quality of them was probably the biggest thing. We gave up some quality chances and they scored, sometimes it goes like that."
Pittsburgh trails the Washington Capitals by one point for first in the Metropolitan Division, having played one more game. Washington won 2-0 at the San Jose Sharks earlier Saturday.
Toronto made it 3-0 with a power play goal at 11:35 of the second period when Kadri put in a rebound off a shot from Mitchell Marner. Marner put the Maple Leafs up 4-0 on the power play at 18:24 when his shot deflected off Pittsburgh forward Riley Sheahan in the slot. It was Marner's 19th goal in 69 games, matching his total from last season as a rookie (77 games). He had five goals in his first 47 games but has scored 14 in his past 22.
"You want to do better than you did the year before and help out the team," Marner said. "Coming in (this season), I just want to help this team. If that's putting up points, obviously that's what I have to do."
"I thought if there was any contact it was after the puck went in," Crosby said. "It's obviously easy to say that after you see a replay but yeah, it was a big play in the game."
Marner scored 49 seconds later. Andersen said he felt Dumoulin made contact with him while he was in the goal crease.
"He went through the crease, right? That's what I saw," Andersen said. "There's a lot of space outside the crease, you could have stayed outside and maybe scored. But that's the rule, so."
* Andersen's save on Derick Brassard at 14:07 of the third period.* Kapanen's goal at 9:10 of the first period.* Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was a late scratch because of the flu. … Toronto's last home loss was 4-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 22.
"I disagree with the call. They see it a certain way out there. I do think the call should be challengeable. It is a turning point in the game. Based on everything that I watched and saw, it looked to me like it was a good goal." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who could not challenge the disallowed goal because a penalty was assessed on the play
"When things go bad for you, you get uncomfortable, it goes bad for longer and then suddenly you're not moving as good but he has all those things going for him now. He's an important player for us." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock on forward Mitchell Marner, who has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in his past 13 games
Dallas Stars @ Pens 1-3 - Sunday, March 11, 2018Nazem Kadri scored twice, Morgan Rielly had three assists and Frederik Andersen made 38 saves for the Maple Leafs (40-22-7), who had lost four in a row (0-2-2). Toronto trails the Boston Bruins by seven points for second in the Atlantic Division, having played three more games.
"We didn't give ourselves a great chance," Crosby said. "They didn't have a ton of chances, the quality of them was probably the biggest thing. We gave up some quality chances and they scored, sometimes it goes like that."
Pittsburgh trails the Washington Capitals by one point for first in the Metropolitan Division, having played one more game. Washington won 2-0 at the San Jose Sharks earlier Saturday.
"You want to do better than you did the year before and help out the team," Marner said. "Coming in (this season), I just want to help this team. If that's putting up points, obviously that's what I have to do."
"I thought if there was any contact it was after the puck went in," Crosby said. "It's obviously easy to say that after you see a replay but yeah, it was a big play in the game."
Marner scored 49 seconds later. Andersen said he felt Dumoulin made contact with him while he was in the goal crease.
"He went through the crease, right? That's what I saw," Andersen said. "There's a lot of space outside the crease, you could have stayed outside and maybe scored. But that's the rule, so."
"I disagree with the call. They see it a certain way out there. I do think the call should be challengeable. It is a turning point in the game. Based on everything that I watched and saw, it looked to me like it was a good goal." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who could not challenge the disallowed goal because a penalty was assessed on the play
"When things go bad for you, you get uncomfortable, it goes bad for longer and then suddenly you're not moving as good but he has all those things going for him now. He's an important player for us." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock on forward Mitchell Marner, who has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in his past 13 games
The Penguins moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars at PPG Paints Arena. Jamie Oleksiak scored the game-winning goal against his former team to help the Penguins (40-26-4) move one point ahead of the Washington Capitals in the division. Pittsburgh has won four of its past five games. Casey DeSmith made 17 saves for the Penguins. The 26-year-old rookie won for the first time since Jan. 25, when he had 23 saves in a 6-3 win against the Minnesota Wild. DeSmith had allowed a combined six goals on 43 shots in his previous two starts. Following a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he got the response he wanted.
"I was really pleased with the focus I thought our guys had," Sullivan said. "I thought from start to finish tonight, this was one of the more complete efforts that we've had all year on both sides of the puck. We had some pretty high-quality scoring chances. I thought every line contributed."
After Patric Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first period, Oleksiak made it 2-0 with 3.7 seconds left in the period. He sent a slap shot past Jason Spezza and Kari Lehtonen's glove for his fifth of the season, which tied his NHL career-high from 2016-17 with the Stars. The Penguins acquired Oleksiak from the Stars on Dec. 19 for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
"It's always nice to contribute, you know?" Oleksiak said. "I'm just happy for the win. … A good pass by Phil (Kessel) there, and I just kind of closed my eyes and shot as hard as I could."
"It's always a little disappointing to not get points at this time of year," Lehtonen said. "We played careless there, I felt like, through two periods. Too many penalties. [Pittsburgh] is a pretty good team. … We were hanging in there and hoping for a comeback, but that didn't happen tonight."
Hornqvist opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the season. With Marc Methot in the penalty box for cross-checking, Evgeni Malkin passed across the right face-off circle to Hornqvist, who one-timed a shot from the inner edge past Lehtonen's blocker. Radulov made it 2-1 when he scored on a 5-on-3 at 12:03 of the second period. Spezza passed through the crease to Radulov, who sent a sharp-angle shot past a diving DeSmith. Hornqvist thought he scored again at 17:28 of the second, but it was overturned following a challenge from the Stars, and it was determined the play was offside. Malkin scored into an empty net with 43.7 seconds remaining in the third period to make it 3-1. It was his 39th goal of the season, one behind Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin and Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine for the NHL lead. It was the first of a six-game road trip for the Stars.
"Go back to work and get ready for the next one," Radulov said. "Watch the video. Do some adjustments. We have a long road trip, so we need those points. Today, we didn't play our best, so we have to regroup, adjust and get ready for the next one."
* Oleksiak's goal at 19:56 of the first period.
* DeSmith's save against Tyler Pitlick at 7:57 of the second period.* Radulov's goal at 12:03 of the second period.* Penguins forward Sidney Crosby had two assists and is two shy of 700 in his NHL career.
"We have the opportunity to generate and we want to make the next play. We don't want to do the hard stuff to score. We don't want to put it into the areas that we need to. We don't put it on the net and pick it up from there. We want to make the next play. So, in the offensive zone, you end up playing sideways." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock
"We showed them we were ready to play. We understand we're not a tough team, but tonight, I thought we played one of the hardest games I've ever seen." -- Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin
After Patric Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first period, Oleksiak made it 2-0 with 3.7 seconds left in the period. He sent a slap shot past Jason Spezza and Kari Lehtonen's glove for his fifth of the season, which tied his NHL career-high from 2016-17 with the Stars. The Penguins acquired Oleksiak from the Stars on Dec. 19 for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
"It's always nice to contribute, you know?" Oleksiak said. "I'm just happy for the win. … A good pass by Phil (Kessel) there, and I just kind of closed my eyes and shot as hard as I could."
Hornqvist opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the season. With Marc Methot in the penalty box for cross-checking, Evgeni Malkin passed across the right face-off circle to Hornqvist, who one-timed a shot from the inner edge past Lehtonen's blocker. Radulov made it 2-1 when he scored on a 5-on-3 at 12:03 of the second period. Spezza passed through the crease to Radulov, who sent a sharp-angle shot past a diving DeSmith. Hornqvist thought he scored again at 17:28 of the second, but it was overturned following a challenge from the Stars, and it was determined the play was offside. Malkin scored into an empty net with 43.7 seconds remaining in the third period to make it 3-1. It was his 39th goal of the season, one behind Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin and Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine for the NHL lead. It was the first of a six-game road trip for the Stars.
"Go back to work and get ready for the next one," Radulov said. "Watch the video. Do some adjustments. We have a long road trip, so we need those points. Today, we didn't play our best, so we have to regroup, adjust and get ready for the next one."
* Oleksiak's goal at 19:56 of the first period.
* DeSmith's save against Tyler Pitlick at 7:57 of the second period.* Radulov's goal at 12:03 of the second period.* Penguins forward Sidney Crosby had two assists and is two shy of 700 in his NHL career.
"We have the opportunity to generate and we want to make the next play. We don't want to do the hard stuff to score. We don't want to put it into the areas that we need to. We don't put it on the net and pick it up from there. We want to make the next play. So, in the offensive zone, you end up playing sideways." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock
"We showed them we were ready to play. We understand we're not a tough team, but tonight, I thought we played one of the hardest games I've ever seen." -- Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin
Pens @ NY Rangers 3-4 OT - Wednesday, March 14, 2018
The Penguins couldn't hold off the New York Rangers' comeback and failed to take over first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-3 overtime loss at Madison Square Garden. Mika Zibanejad scored his second goal of the game 2:53 into overtime to win it for the Rangers, who rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 down in the third period. New York hadn't won against a team in a playoff position since Feb. 11 (3-1 at the Winnipeg Jets). The point helped the Penguins (40-26-5) tie the Washington Capitals, but the Capitals occupy first in the standings because they have two games in hand on the Penguins.
"We had a great first and a great second, but we played so much with the puck that I think we got cocky," Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. "We didn't manage the puck. We were careless. And it bit us. They came back in the game and they got the big point in overtime."
The Penguins were 0-for-3 on the power play, including 0-for-2 after they built a 2-0 lead in the second period. They were 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.
In addition, Evgeni Malkin couldn't convert on a penalty shot at 19:49 of the third period.
"We didn't play hard enough," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We got outplayed in the third period. Penalty kill didn't get it done. Our power play didn't get it done. And that's what happens.
"There's a fine line between winning and losing in this league and every team has something to play for and every team has good players," Sullivan said. "We didn't bring it in the third period with the level of urgency or the details, the attention to detail that we needed. The quality of the chances that we gave up were high and they scored."
The Rangers are eight points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We're battling," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We're competing."
Carl Hagelin, Bryan Rust and Riley Sheahan scored for the Penguins. Casey DeSmith made 29 saves.
"I just wanted to be patient with him, wait for his maybe first, maybe second, third move," Georgiev said. "Wait for his [move], not go down really early. I think I was patient with that."
Zibanejad scored the winner after getting a backhanded pass from Kreider between the circles. He carried the puck through the right circle and beat DeSmith with a short-side shot.
"We totally ruined it," Letang said. "We had a great first two periods and we got too confident and didn't respect them enough. They came back in the third and we were sloppy."
* Zibanejad's goal at 2:53 of overtime.* Georgiev's save on Sidney Crosby 1:33 into overtime.* Georgiev's save on Malkin's penalty shot at 19:49 of the third period.* Kreider scored as many as four points for the first time in his 370-game NHL career. He also established a single-game NHL career high with three assists. … Zibanejad's overtime goal was his 100th in the NHL. He joined Derek Stepan (2015) and Theo Fleury (2001) as the only Rangers to score the tying goal in the final five minutes and the winner in overtime. … Rust played after missing the past two games with a concussion.
"At this time of year you've got to make sure you play a 60-minute hockey game. You can't play 40 minutes and think you're going to win." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
"It's a little daunting. Your heart kind of drops when you find out it's a penalty shot, but [Georgiev] did an unbelievable job. He's been so good for us. He battles. It's easy to play in front of a guy like that." -- Rangers forward Chris Kreider
The Penguins were 0-for-3 on the power play, including 0-for-2 after they built a 2-0 lead in the second period. They were 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.
In addition, Evgeni Malkin couldn't convert on a penalty shot at 19:49 of the third period.
"We didn't play hard enough," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We got outplayed in the third period. Penalty kill didn't get it done. Our power play didn't get it done. And that's what happens.
"There's a fine line between winning and losing in this league and every team has something to play for and every team has good players," Sullivan said. "We didn't bring it in the third period with the level of urgency or the details, the attention to detail that we needed. The quality of the chances that we gave up were high and they scored."
The Rangers are eight points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We're battling," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We're competing."
Carl Hagelin, Bryan Rust and Riley Sheahan scored for the Penguins. Casey DeSmith made 29 saves.
"I just wanted to be patient with him, wait for his maybe first, maybe second, third move," Georgiev said. "Wait for his [move], not go down really early. I think I was patient with that."
Zibanejad scored the winner after getting a backhanded pass from Kreider between the circles. He carried the puck through the right circle and beat DeSmith with a short-side shot.
"We totally ruined it," Letang said. "We had a great first two periods and we got too confident and didn't respect them enough. They came back in the third and we were sloppy."
* Zibanejad's goal at 2:53 of overtime.* Georgiev's save on Sidney Crosby 1:33 into overtime.* Georgiev's save on Malkin's penalty shot at 19:49 of the third period.* Kreider scored as many as four points for the first time in his 370-game NHL career. He also established a single-game NHL career high with three assists. … Zibanejad's overtime goal was his 100th in the NHL. He joined Derek Stepan (2015) and Theo Fleury (2001) as the only Rangers to score the tying goal in the final five minutes and the winner in overtime. … Rust played after missing the past two games with a concussion."At this time of year you've got to make sure you play a 60-minute hockey game. You can't play 40 minutes and think you're going to win." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan"It's a little daunting. Your heart kind of drops when you find out it's a penalty shot, but [Georgiev] did an unbelievable job. He's been so good for us. He battles. It's easy to play in front of a guy like that." -- Rangers forward Chris Kreider
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