TORONTO — The Pittsburgh Penguins (1-2-0) have been characteristically inconsistent to begin the 2024-25 NHL season. One bad game. One good game. And, on Saturday, one game entirely in the middle.
Their middle game was not good enough as the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-0) scored a pair of goals within 2:03 early in the second period, and Mitch Marner scored a breakaway goal earlier in the third period for a 4-2 Toronto win at Scotiabank Arena.
The Penguins made it interesting later in the third period when Evgeni Malkin earned assist No. 801 with a rush, drop pass to Rickard Rakell, and center drive to create a screen. Rakell (1) snapped a wrister past Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz at 12:29.
However, the Penguins could not get the tying goal, try as they did with a couple of net-front scrums.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan opened the door to a goalie controversy Saturday morning by announcing rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist would start ahead of No. 1 starter Tristan Jarry. Blomqvist was just short of unbeatable and covered more than a few Penguins’ mistakes. Blomqvist stopped 28 of 31 shots before being pulled for the extra attacker.
The Penguins generally dominated possession in the first period. The shots favored Toronto as they peppered Blomqvist with four on one shift and were otherwise opportunistic, but the puck spent far more time in the Toronto zone than the Penguins’ end.
“They were on us, but our structure didn’t break,” said Toronto coach Craig Berube.
For the second consecutive game, the Penguins power play scored a goal.
After Penguins fourth-line center Cody Glass beat Toronto defenseman Simon Benoit on the rush, Benoit took a tripping penalty to deny Glass a clean rip at goalie Anthony Stolarz. The Toronto penalty killers sagged to cover Sidney Crosby on the mid-wall, which gave Kris Letang (1) acres of ice to skate to the right circle and blast a top-shelf shot past Stolarz at 10:58.
However, the second period began like a trip through a haunted house for the Penguins as they yielded a pair of goals in two minutes and three seconds.
Just 50 seconds into the period, it seemed everything went wrong, from an uncalled slash to a turnover, resulting in a Toronto three-on-none. Blomqvist helplessly watched as William Nylander (1) converted the break.
