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Penguins lose to Maple Leafs as goaltender Joel Blomqvist starts again | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins lose to Maple Leafs as goaltender Joel Blomqvist starts again

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
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Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) makes a save as the Penguins’ Drew O’Connor (10) and Maple Leafs’ Conor Timmins (25) battle for a rebound during the first period Saturday.
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The Maple Leafs’ Pontus Holmberg (29) battles for the puck against the Penguins’ Lars Eller (20) as Maple Leafs’ Chris Tanev (8), William Nylander (88) and Bobby McMann (74) along with Penguins’ Rutger McGroarty (2) and Drew O’Connor (10) watch during the first period Saturday.
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The Penguins’ Michael Bunting watches as Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz makes behind the defense of Morgan Rielly during the first period Saturday.
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The Maple Leafs’ David Kampf is stopped by Penguins goaltender Joel Blomqvist as Erik Karlsson (65) and Rickard Rakell (67) defend during the first period Saturday.
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The Penguins’ Kris Letang (top) pushes the Maple Leafs’ Bobby McMann during second-period action Saturday.

When Joel Blomqvist found out he would be getting a promotion — albeit a temporary one — as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ backup goaltender while incumbent Alex Nedeljkovic convalesced from an undisclosed injury, he was modest about the development.

But confident.

“I feel like my game is getting better all the time each day,” Blomqvist said in Cranberry on Oct. 2. “I’m getting opportunity to practice with NHL guys. So, it’s a lot of fun. And I feel like I improve every day.”

His station appears to have improved considerably in recent days. Blomqvist served as the Penguins’ starting goaltender for the second consecutive contest, a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The 22-year-old rookie made 29 saves on 32 shots as his record slipped to 1-1-0. That result came two days after he earned a victory in his NHL debut, a 6-3 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

Blomqvist treated Saturday’s game like Thursday’s outing.

“I just prepared like you do for each game,” Blomqvist said to media in Toronto via audio supplied by the team’s media relations staff. “Nothing changed at all.”

Three games into the 2024-25 season, All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry — in the second season of a five-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5.375 million — has been limited to a single game, a 6-0 vivisection at the hands of the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday.

While it’s anyone’s guess when Jarry might return to the net as starter, tried and true first-line right winger Bryan Rust — injured during the preseason — returned to the Penguins’ lineup on Saturday, making his season debut in his typical deployment next to franchise center Sidney Crosby. He also saw regular minutes on the top power-play unit according to the team’s radio broadcast.

That squad generated the contest’s first score in the form of defenseman Kris Letang’s first goal of the season 10:58 into regulation.

Letang accepted a pass from Crosby on the right half wall and maneuvered to the right point of the offensive zone. As Maple Leafs forward Pontus Holmberg peeled away to take away a potential pass to defenseman Erik Karlsson on the left point, Letang accepted the real estate yielded by Holmberg, advanced to the top of the right circle and scorched a slapper by goaltender Anthony Stolarz’s glove on the near side. Crosby and forward Evgeni Malkin had assists.

“I think the forward hit something,” Letang said. “He lost his edge (of his skates). It allowed me to walk in.”

The hosts tied the game only 50 seconds into the second period via forward William Nylander’s first goal.

After Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk overskated a pass at the center red line, the errant puck hit off the boards in front of the home penalty box. Maple Leafs forward Max Domi chased down the charity and generated a two-on-none rush. Approaching the Penguins cage from the inner edge of the right circle, Domi feathered a backhand pass to Nylander, who swatted a one-timer from below the left circle by the blocker of an outstretched Blomqvist. Domi tallied the lone assist.

Forward Matthew Knies’ first goal 123 seconds later supplied the Maple Leafs with their first lead.

Settling a puck at the left point of the Penguins zone, Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly chucked the puck well wide of the cage on the near side, banking it off the end boards. The puck caromed off the left side of the cage and slid through a net-front battle between Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson and Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner. Knies darted toward the loose puck and lifted a wrister from the lower rim of the left circle to the far side by Blomqvist’s right shoulder. Rielly and Marner registered assists.

Marner got in on the act with his first goal at 2:12 of the third frame.

Following an offensive zone turnover by Rust, Marner claimed the puck on his own left half wall and chipped it into the neutral zone. Surging past a sluggish Pettersson, Marner hustled into the Penguins zone, approached the right circle and sizzled a far-side wrister by Blomqvist’s blocker. There were no assists.

Penguins forward Rickard Rakell recorded his first goal at 12:29 of the third period.

Gloving down an airborne puck at the center red line, Malkin roared up the right wing into the offensive zone, cut to the slot and offloaded a short-area pass to the slot for Rakell, who ripped a wrister by Stolarz’s blocker on the near side. The only assist went to Malkin. It was his 1,300th career point.

Nylander capped the scoring with an empty net goal at 19:38 of the final frame. Domi had the only assist.

Notes:

• Rust logged 20:07 of ice time on 23 shifts and had two shots on two attempts. He also recorded two penalty minutes.

• In 47 career games against the Maple Leafs, Malkin has 71 points (24 goals, 47 assists).

• In 54 career games against the Maple Leafs, Crosby has 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists).

• The Penguins scratched forward Jesse Puljujarvi and defenseman Ryan Shea.

• In 21 career games against the Penguins, Marner has 22 points (five goals, 17 assists).

• In four career games against the Penguins, Knies has five points (four goals, one assist).

• Per one of the Maple Leafs’ social media accounts, All-Star forward John Tavares was scratched due to illness.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports
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