Penguins bounce back to blow past Maple Leafs

Mike Sullivan was not happy with his team on Friday.

So, on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ coach made several changes to his lineup.

Defenseman Ryan Graves and forward Jesse Puljujarvi, each healthy scratches going back to November, were on the ice while defenseman Ryan Shea (healthy) and forward Philip Tomasino (undisclosed injury) sat.

Beyond that, forward Cody Glass was promoted to the second line to open the contest while rookie defenseman Owen Pickering was bumped up to the top defensive pairing. Additionally, each power-play unit was tinkered with.

Those augmentations helped generate a 5-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena.

The result came roughly 24 hours after a slapdash 4-2 road loss to the New York Rangers that Sullivan wasn’t terribly eager to elaborate on prior to Saturday’s contest.

“Wasn’t good enough,” Sullivan said curtly.

Sullivan and company were much more verbose after Saturday’s triumph.

“What a difference a day makes,” Sullivan genuflected. “I thought we were a different team tonight from the drop of the puck. It might have been the most complete game that we’ve played all year from start to finish. A lot of it, for me, was just the right intentions, a willingness and a commitment to play the game the right way. And doing the mundane or the ordinary things consistently, shift and shift out. When we do that, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.

“When we put a game like that on the ice, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win a lot of nights.”

The Penguins also put different power-play units on the ice in this victory. Namely, they broke up some of their top players, deploying them on each squad. That approach led to the opening and game-winning scores.

“I thought the power play was great. Both units were clicking there,” said Penguins forward Michael Bunting, who scored the winning goal. “It’s just changing it up and seeing new looks. And sometimes good things can happen from that in a short time. Both units were able to get on the board.”

The opening goal was scored by the Penguins with the man advantage when forward Rickard Rakell’s team-leading 11th goal of the season came 4:39 into regulation.

After Penguins forward Kevin Hayes won a faceoff in Toronto’s left circle against Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews, Grzelcyk took control of the puck in the high slot and then backhanded a pass to defenseman Kris Letang at the left point. Letang maneuvered up the near wall and slid a backhand pass towards the left corner for Hayes, who then banked the puck off the left wall to the near point for Grzelcyk. Accepting the puck, Grzelcyk considered his options and then flung a wrister toward the cage. Rakell was stationed above the top of the blue paint and deflected the puck with some part of his anatomy by goaltender Joseph Woll’s glove. Grzelcyk and Hayes had assists.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Matt Grzelcyk with 15:21 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Kevin Hayes and Kris Letang.

Pittsburgh: 1
Toronto: 0#TORvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/5FX8talWLT

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024

Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner responded with his 10th goal only 116 seconds later.

Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson snapped a wrister toward the cage. Goaltender Tristan Jarry made the initial save despite a mass of bodies in front of him, but a rebound trickled loose to the left of the crease. As he fell to the ice thanks to a shove by Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson, Marner was able to sweep in the loose puck with a backhander from his right knee. Ekman-Larsson and Matthews merited assists.

Toronto goal!

Scored by Mitch Marner with 13:25 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Auston Matthews.

Pittsburgh: 1
Toronto: 1#TORvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/oYnoNWp1RY

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024

The Penguins reclaimed a lead thanks to forward Bryan Rust’s ninth goal at 14:15 of the first period.

Streaking into the offensive zone at the center point, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby fired a wrister wide to the right of the cage thanks in part to resistance by Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev. The puck hit off the end boards and went on a journey to the top of the right circle where Rust shot an immediate wrister by Woll’s left leg on the near side. Crosby and Rakell registered assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Bryan Rust with 05:45 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell.

Pittsburgh: 2
Toronto: 1#TORvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/ORYWDll583

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024

Maple Leafs forward William Nylander scored his 17th goal during a power-play opportunity at 2:23 of the second period.

From the Penguins’ right corner, Matthews slid a pass to the right point for Marner, who one-touched the puck toward the left wing. Stationed above the circle, Nylander kaboomed a one-timer by Jarry’s blocker on the near side. Assists went to Marner and Matthews.

Power play goal for Toronto!

Scored by William Nylander with 17:28 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews.

Pittsburgh: 2
Toronto: 2#TORvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/ld4KMz5q8g

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024

Bunting, a one-time member of the Maple Leafs, put his current employer back in the lead by scoring his sixth goal during a power-play scenario at 5:34 of the third period.

Taking a pass in Toronto’s high slot, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson one-touched the puck to the lower left circle where Rust tried to re-direct a forehand shot on net. Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins read the sequence perfectly and flopped to his knees to block the shot but inadvertently deflected the puck to the opposite circle where Bunting swept in a wrister through Ekman-Larsson’s legs and by the left skate of an outstretched Woll. Rust and Karlsson had assists.

Nothing like an Ontario native scoring against his former team ???? pic.twitter.com/iYMxdy1cIL

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 8, 2024

The Maple Leafs had a prime opportunity to tie the game late in regulation when Rust took a high-sticking penalty at 17:47 of the third period. With Woll pulled for an extra attacker, the Penguins faced the full might of Toronto’s offensive attack in a six-on-four scenario.

But Penguins forward Blake Lizotte, who has invigorated the Penguins’ third line as of late, secured victory with his sixth goal on an empty net.

Hounding Maple Leafs forward John Tavares into a turnover near the home bench, Lizotte airmailed a forehand shot into the open cage at 19:20 of the final period. There were no assists.

Empty net goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Blake Lizotte with 00:40 remaining in the 3rd period.

Pittsburgh: 4
Toronto: 2#TORvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/eTlMJYMcic

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024

Letang registered his fifth goal on the same penalty-killing sequence and empty net only 14 seconds later from behind his own goal line. The only assist went to Pettersson.

Empty net goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Kris Letang with 00:26 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Marcus Pettersson.

Pittsburgh: 5
Toronto: 2#TORvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/3BeQCAODO5

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024

Jarry’s record improved to 5-3-1 after he stopped 25 shots on 27 shots.

It was the goaltender’s fourth consecutive win, an accomplishment that seemed inconceivable a little over a month ago when Jarry reported to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on a conditioning stint to repair his malfunctioning game.

“You see he’s got confidence,” Rust said. “‘Jars’ is ‘Jars.’ It doesn’t matter what’s been going on this year. He’s been coming to the rink. He’s been working hard. Obviously, it’s not been a great year mentally for him. He’s come back and he’s shown a lot of resilience. That’s huge. Our team notices that. Our room notices that. When he’s at his game, that just kind of helps rally our team.”

The Penguins staged an impressive rally from Friday’s ugly loss.

“We needed to respond,” Pettersson said. “I know the last little while, we’ve played some really good hockey. And (Friday) we got away from that and gave up a lot of odd-man rushes. It was a way tighter game tonight. It was great to see us come out on top.

“And I think we learned a lot about ourselves tonight.”

Notes:

• Sullivan indicated Tomasino’s ailment will keep him sidelined on a “day-to-day” basis.

• Lizotte set a new career-high with points in four consecutive games (three goals, three assists).

• Grzelcyk now has 12 points (all assists) in 29 games. He had 11 points (two goals, nine assist) in 62 games with the Boston Bruins last season. Six of Grzelcyk’s assists this season have come during power-play sequences.

• Rust (387 points) surpassed Mark Recchi (385) for 16th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• In 55 career games against the Maple Leafs, Crosby has 70 points (29 goals, 41 assists).

• Penguins forward Matt Nieto was also a healthy scratch.

• Sullivan appeared in his 700th regular season game with the Penguins.

• In 22 career games against the Penguins, Marner has 24 points (six goals, 18 assists).