Leo Komarov’s pair of tallies spurred a three-goal second period rally that earned the Maple Leafs a point in the standings, but Blake Comeau’s third goal of the game at 2:53 of overtime gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory over Toronto at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday night.
The win gave the Penguins a three-game sweep of the season series with the Maple Leafs, as the former Islander draft pick and Evgeni Malkin each had three points, while Kris Letang and NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby registered two assists.
Toronto penchant for slow starts showed once again, as Comeau converted on a mad scramble in front of goalie Jonathan Bernier just 26 seconds into the game and “Leaf Killer… Malkin scored on the power play goal midway through the first. The opening goal marked the eighth time the Leafs have surrendered the opening goal in the first five minutes of a game this season.
Komarov led the Toronto rally in the middle frame, scoring two goals within 2:37 of each other to tie the game, but Comeau restored Pittsburgh’s lead less than three minutes later with a tip of a Chris Kunitz shot.
The Leafs responded and tied the game with Stephane Robidas in the penalty box for hooking, as Tyler Bozak intercepted an errant Crosby pass and beat Fleury on a short-handed breakaway. With his two goals, Komarov matched his scoring output for the entire lockout shortened 2013 season, while Bozak’s short-handed goal was the club’s fifth of the year, tying Toronto with Los Angeles for the league lead.
Positives
Korbinian Holzer – A much better showing than anyone could have expected from the 26-year-old blueliner. Holzer was +2 on the night in just under 18 minutes, led the Leafs(along with Komarov) with six hits.
Santorelli-Kadri-Komarov – The Leafs most effective line of the night, who bounced back after being partially responsible on Comeau’s opening goal with two goals in the middle frame. Kadri and Santorelli did yeoman’s work along the boards to create a scoring chance on Komarov’s first goal. Kadri had his usual game of tantalizing with impressive plays(a solid hit on Christian Ehrhoff) and negating them with careless errors like his third-period defensive zone giveaway to Malkin.
Negatives
The Leafs power play – Went 0 for 3 on Wednesday, with first and second units being mostly ineffective. Toronto is currently going through the second lengthy drought of the season, with one goal in their last 23 chances with the man advantage.
Gardiner/Rielly pairing – A strange shuffling of the blueline pairings by Carlyle in the wake of Polak’s injury, with righties Holzer and Robidas playing together and the defensively challenged Gardiner with the inexperienced Rielly. Pittsburgh saw blood in the water and pounced on the young pairing on Comeau’s opening goal.
Kessel/van Riemsdyk – The top line pairing put little offensive pressure on the Penguins on the power play and 5-on-5 during regulation(registering only five shots). Kessel did not appear to have his top gear most of the night and van Riemsdyk was on the ice for Comeau’s go-ahead and winning overtime goal.
******* Listen to my interview with Bill Watters, who talks about the late Pat Quinn and current state of the Maple Leafs:
Happy Thanksgiving : D
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