- The Penguins had to overcome a whole lot over the course of tonight's game. Early on the team struggled to find their legs, and looked incredibly sluggish in the first game back from the All Star break. The Penguins were outshot heavily in the first period [14-6], and dominated in all ends of the ice. The Penguins got an early break in the game when a Leafs goal was disallowed on a pretty bogus goalie interference call. Going into the 1st intermission, the game was scoreless mainly due to some strong play from MAF.
- The 2nd Period was a much different story for the Penguins, as they saw the Leafs storm off to an early 2-0 lead on two early goals from Grabovski. The birthday boy for Toronto had himself a WHALE of a game on his birthday, racking up 6 shots in his first 7 minutes played in tonight's contest. Matt Cooke managed a late goal, tipping a Paul Martin shot past Gustavsson to bring the Penguins within 1 going into the 2nd intermission. 2-1 Leafs after 40 minutes.
- The Leafs really seemed to take over the game in the early parts of the 3rd Period. Two more quick goals from the Leafs, the first of which came on the PP, gave the Leafs a commanding 4-1 lead with 13+ minutes to play in regulation. All seemed lost for the Penguins, but then the feverish comeback began. At 8:33 of the period, Steve Sullivan let go a howitzer from the right-wing beating Gustavsson high short side, to bring the Penguins within 2; Vitale added a marker with just under 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd to set the stage for a fantastic finish...
- Evgeni Malkin scored off his chest [James Neal shot from the slot; deflection] with under 7 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game 4-4 and send the affair to OT. Both goaltenders were outstanding in the OT period, especially Gustavsson as he made a sparkling save on Letang in the latter parts of the OT period. Ultimately, the game would be decided in the skills competition.
Shootout Results
PIT: Letang, Malkin, Kunitz
TOR: Grabovski, Kadri, Kessel
Round 1: Letang - No Goal // Grabovski - No Goal
Round 2: Malkin - Goal // Kadri - No Goal
Round 3: Kunitz - No Goal // Kessel - No Goal
Penguins win 5-4 in Shootout
NHL.com Boxscore:
Game Totals:
Penguins 5 - Maple Leafs 4 (SO)
SOG: 39-35 TOR
HITS: 28-20 PIT
FOW: 30-30 tie
BLKS: 17-10 TOR
Three Stars:
1. Marc-Andre Fleury was absolutely amazing all throughout the late 3rd Period, Overtime and in the Shootout - stopping all three TOR shooters in the skills competition to clinch the win. Stopping 35 of 39 Leafs' shots, but making clutch save after clutch save is the reason why MAF is the #1 star tonight.
2. Mikhail Grabovski has himself a game, folks... I mentioned that he fired 6 SOG during his first 7 minutes played, well he finished the game with some pretty gnarly totals: 2G, 1A, +1, 7 SOG in 20:28 TOI. That's pretty darn impressive, and for good reason Grabovski gets #2 star honors.
3. Evgeni Malkin was absolutely CLUTCH in tonight's game, creating offensive chances at a feverish pace late in the 2nd and 3rd Periods of tonight's game. Malkin registered 4 SOG in 22+ minutes TOI, and scored the game-tying goal late in the 3rd Period on a puck off his chest. Evgeni Malkin earns #3 star honors more for his late-game presence, but the goal doesn't hurt.
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