Jonas (The Monster) Gustavsson was impressive in his debut for the Maple Leafs on Sunday, making 36 saves as Toronto opened up its rookie tournament with a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Kitchener, Ontario.
Gustavsson, who the Leafs signed as a free agent this off-season from the Swedish Elite League, did not disappoint in his first appearance on North American ice. The 24-year-old rookie withstood a flurry of shots from the Penguins in the latter half of the game, looking nearly unbeatable for two and a half periods.
Viktor Stalberg opened the scoring for the Blue & White rookies in the first period, tapping home a tic-tac-toe play from Tyler Bozak and Christian Hanson on a 5-on-3 power play to put Toronto in front 1-0.
Despite the Penguins dominating the second and third periods, the score remained the same until midway through the final frame when they finally solved Gustavsson. Joe Vitale tipped a Robert Bortuzzo shot through the legs of the Leafs goaltender to even the game at one.
However, Toronto didn't take long to respond. With less than three minutes left in regulation, Leafs winger Greg Scott fired a shot off the mask of Pens netminder Patrick Killeen who then bobbled the puck and had it drop between his pads and dribble across the goal line to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Alex Berry added an empty net goal for the Leafs with 32 seconds left to close out the win.
Toronto's top pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Nazem Kadri, also made his debut Sunday. The London Knights forward showed signs of positive play at both ends of the ice and nearly got his name on the score sheet, ringing a shot off the crossbar in the second period.
The Leafs will now face the Boston Bruins rookies on Monday. The Ottawa Senators are also icing a squad at the four-team mini-tournament which wraps up on Thursday.
