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The Pittsburgh Penguins had a number of days off to organize for his or her Hockey Night time in Canada matchup in opposition to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Regardless of scoring first, they fell behind 3-1 en path to a 4-2 defeat, dropping them to 1-2-0 on the season.
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Rookie Joel Blomqvist began for the second consecutive recreation, and the Penguins additionally scored on the ability play for the primary time in back-to-back video games this 12 months. The workforce hopes to enhance upon final season’s thirtieth rating.
Listed below are a number of takeaways from Saturday evening’s loss in Toronto.
Blomqvist Torched by Elite NHL Snipers
A lot to everybody’s shock, Blomqvist bought the nod over incumbent Tristan Jarry to face one of many NHL’s most potent offenses, led by 69-goal scorer Auston Matthews. Though final 12 months’s Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy did not mild the lamp, his linemates did, together with two from two-time 40-goal scorer William Nylander.
Blomqvist solely bought beat clear by Mitch Marner, a former 99-point scorer with the ability set to place the puck in as little house as potential. Aside from that snipe, the Penguins goalie was pressured to defend a 3-on-0 and crushed by Nylander for his first tally.
Related: Blomqvist Becomes Second Finnish Goalie To Start A Game For Penguins
Outdoors the targets, Blomqvist stood tall and completed the night with 29 saves, nonetheless boasting a .906 SV%, his second consecutive outing with these SV% totals. Whether or not head coach Mike Sullivan wished to check the Finnish netminder by tossing him within the deep finish of the pool or not, he responded with a strong effort regardless of three targets in opposition to.
Malkin Nonetheless Does Malkin Issues
Final season, Evgeni Malkin collected 67 factors and led the workforce in penalty minutes with 70. As probably the most passionate gamers who play on an edge, Malkin was instantly chargeable for the 3-on-0 that led to the Maple Leaf’s first purpose of the competition.
Within the impartial zone, the Penguins ahead had his stick slashed out of his arms. As an alternative of retrieving it like another participant would, Malkin opted to proceed to skate along with his arms held excessive, searching for a penalty name that was not coming.
After seconds of not getting his means, Malkin turned his again on the play, which resulted in a turnover close to middle ice that sprang Max Domi, Matthew Knies, and Nylander in on the Penguins netminder alone. The end result was a tie recreation at 1-1 simply 50 seconds into the center interval.
Related: Penguins Malkin Collects 800th Career Assist
Though Malkin reached 1,300 factors within the third interval, his selfless act within the early a part of the second interval led to a game-tying purpose and an pointless momentum shift. As somebody who has taken questionable penalties through the years, searching for a name whereas the play goes the alternative means is a nasty look, irrespective of how it’s spun.
Letang Proves He is Nonetheless Obtained It
Veteran defenseman Kris Letang fired residence a power-play purpose to open up the scoring within the first interval. It was a stupendous shot and highlighted that the 37-year defenseman nonetheless will be an elite scorer amongst blueliners.
Over the previous six seasons, the 19-year veteran has reached double digits in lamplighters in all however the 2020-21 season. Letang hasn’t come near reaching 15 or 16 targets in 4 seasons, however with one tally via three video games, he is already on tempo for 27 targets.
There is a good probability he will not attain that whole, however with two factors in three video games, Letang might surpass final season’s 51 factors. The final time Pittsburgh certified for the playoffs, he had a career-high 68 factors. He would have edged Malkin for second in workforce scoring if he had reached that whole for the second consecutive season in 2023-24.
The Penguins do not want that stage of contribution, however would not it’s good if he had one other excellent marketing campaign, contemplating all of the adversity he is overcome up to now few seasons?
The place Do the Penguins Go From Right here?
Do not look now, however the Montreal Canadiens aren’t the identical pushovers from the 2023-24 season, who completed 12 factors behind the Penguins within the wildcard race. They’re 2-1-0 with victories over the Maple Leafs (1-0) and Ottawa Senators (4-1). Even of their lone defeat in opposition to the Bruins, they nonetheless misplaced by a rating of 4-2.
Their netminder, Sam Montembeault, is taking part in lights out with a single purpose in opposition to in two begins. In fact, the Penguins have their very own goalie controversy brewing, and it is going to be attention-grabbing to see who’s beginning on Monday morning.
Will Tristan Jarry get an opportunity to bounce again from a nasty efficiency on opening evening? May Blomqvist get a 3rd straight name, or will we see Alex Nedeljkovic make his regular-season debut?
Moreover, the Penguins are discovering some luck on the person benefit, however Montreal is doing simply the identical as the children are beating Vezina-caliber netminders on a nightly foundation.
Related: Can Penguins Break Season Opening Trend?
Though it’s only the fourth contest of the 12 months, Pittsburgh is slowly climbing into must-win territory. They have to keep away from the pitfalls of a sluggish ten-game begin that would doom the rest of their season.
Monday evening’s contest in opposition to the Canadiens on the Bell Centre is solely on Prime. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
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