PITTSBURGH – Seldom have the Pittsburgh Penguins been as ripe for the picking as they are right now.
Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs have experienced their own share of injuries and suspensions this season, it never got nearly as bad as it currently is for the Penguins team they’ll face at Consol Energy Center on Monday night.
Consider that Pittsburgh will play without its top four defencemen and centre Evgeni Malkin, who is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. As a result, the Penguins second line consists of AHLers Jason Megna and Harry Zolnierczyk with Jussi Jokinen while the top defensive pairing features rookie Olli Maatta and Matt Niskanen.
With eight regulars out of the lineup, the Penguins are a shell of their former self.
“We’re not going to feel sorry for anybody and their lineup concerns,” said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. “We’ve had our fair share of challenges.”
In many ways, the timing couldn’t be better for a Toronto team that has come through a rough patch of schedule and is looking to build on Saturday’s 7-3 victory over the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks.
Carlyle was expected to ice the exact same lineup as he had for the win over the Blackhawks, with Jonathan Bernier getting the start in goal and defencemen Mark Fraser and Paul Ranger both scratched.
Overall, the Leafs are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games – a stretch where they played Pittsburgh, Montreal, San Jose, Boston, Los Angeles and St. Louis, among others. Once Monday’s game with the Penguins is out of the way, the degree of difficulty will drop moving forward.
“We’ve got a lot of hockey games here before Christmas and it would be a nice time to get on a little roll,” said Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul.
Marc-Andre Fleury was expected to get the start in goal for Pittsburgh. Despite the spate of injuries, the team’s top line of Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis remained intact.
Crosby, the NHL’s scoring leader, knows that they’ll have to shoulder even more of the load than usual.
“You want to make sure you’re at your best,” he said. “I think it’s pretty natural when guys are missing for everyone to want to pick it up a bit more and make sure that you find ways (to get the job done).”
Toronto has come away from this arena with just one victory in its last five visits and wasn’t taking anything for granted about this trip. These Penguins might not be as mighty as usual, but they’ve still managed to win eight of their last nine games with a roster that has been increasingly filled with members of the organization’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes Barre/Scranton.
“We understand that the Pittsburgh Penguins are a great hockey club and they’re winning a lot of hockey games and they’re doing it the right way,” said Carlyle.
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ONE-TIMERS
Sidney Crosby is on pace for 43 goals and 110 points this season … He is currently on a six-game points streak … The Penguins are 18-2-0 when scoring first in a game … Crosby (46), Evgeni Malkin (41) and Chris Kunitz (33) all have more points than Leafs leader Phil Kessel (32) … Pittsburgh is ranked first overall on the power play and second on the penalty kill … The Leafs will return home after the game and face Florida at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night … Toronto winger Nikolai Kulemin has picked up the production of late with four points in his last four games … The Penguins are riding a seven-game home winning streak … David Clarkson is serving the second and final game of his suspension for an illegal check to the head of Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka.
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QUICK QUOTES
“Crosby, Kunitz and Dupuis are going to play a lot of hockey for them. We have to be very aware when they’re on the ice. They are a team that feeds off of No. 87 for sure.” – Leafs coach Randy Carlyle on the Penguins.
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“For whatever reason we’ve gotten behind in games (against Toronto). They come hard and they generate chances and they don’t need much. They’ve got a lot of skilled guys up front. I think our focus has got to be on playing in their end.” – Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on the Leafs.
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“I thought it was really good. They do a great job and give a pretty real portrayal of what it’s like and what the game is like.” – Leafs goalie James Reimer on the opening episode of HBO’s “24/7.”
