In Toronto, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Brock McGinn scored with just under two minutes gone in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie with the Maple Leafs en route to a 4-2 win on Friday night.
“Just having the mindset of going out there and doing it [and playing responsibly with good structure] for a full 60 [minutes],” McGinn said. “I think everybody in this room when we are on our game, we can beat anybody in the League. It’s just doing it consistently and doing it every night.”
Casey DeSmith made 28 saves in the Pens win.
“Definitely, I think we are playing more responsibly,” DeSmith said. “Doing the little things in the defensive zone, maybe a little bit more physical, protecting the scoring areas, giving the defense a little more support, getting back, less odd-man rushes. Everything is just coming together for us. If we keep it up, we are going to win a lot of games.”
Pittsburgh improved to 6-6-.-2.
The two teams traded goals through the first two periods, with the third period starting with a tie game, 2-2.
Zach Aston-Reese and William Nylander were the Toronto strikers.
Evgeni Malkin tied the game, 1-1m in the first period, after Aston-Reese had scored for the a 1-0 lead to the Maple Leafs.
“[Malkin] was in beast mode tonight it seemed,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “He was a threat all night long. When he is at his best, when he plays the game like we have all grown accustomed to watching him over the years, the puck just follows him around. It was one of those occasions tonight. He scores, he sets up a bunch, he had a bunch of looks. I thought his line was really a threat most of the night.”
Toronto dropped to 7-5-3.
Jason Zucker staked the Pens to a 2-1 lead in the middle frame.
“I thought [the third period] was a real solid period from our standpoint, just from a structure standpoint,” Sullivan said. “I thought we did a great job in the neutral zone and from a structure standpoint, trying to take some of their speed away and force them to have to dump pucks instead of carrying pucks.”
Marner tied it for the Maple Leafs, 2-2, heading to the third.
“I felt we had some really good portions of the second period,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I felt some of the first period was OK, not nearly as good as we’d expect but we are up 1-0 and in a good spot there with a great goal from Aston-Reese to give us a lead. I was really disappointed how we closed out that period to give them one back.”
Jake Guentzel hit for an empty-net goal with 13 seconds left in the game for the 4-2 final.
“We were not happy [after the second period],” Malkin said. “We talked in the locker room and we tried to play better. We need like wins, we need like confidence. We know we lost seven games in a row.”
Erik Kallgren made 19 saves in the Maple Leafs loss.
“I thought Erik played well tonight,” Keefe said. “He’s been playing well for us, so shake that one off and feel good about how you’ve been playing giving your team a chance to win.”
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