Penguins at Maple Leafs
After seeing their impressive seven-game winning streak end with a thud, the Pittsburgh Penguins look to dust themselves off when they conclude a five-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. The Penguins were unable to avenge their postseason ouster at the hands of the New York Rangers and were humbled 5-0 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. "However many in a row we won, that's no excuse. We weren't good enough," captain Sidney Crosby said following the lopsided loss. "Sometimes you don't have good starts, and you don't always pay for it. (Tuesday), we definitely did."
While Pittsburgh struggled against its Metropolitan Division rival, Toronto had no such issues with its Atlantic Division adversary as it breezed to a 6-1 triumph over Boston on Wednesday. Phil Kessel scored twice and Tyler Bozak collected a power-play tally and two assists as the Maple Leafs skated to their third straight victory overall and fourth consecutive at Air Canada Centre. Bozak also scored with the man advantage in the teams' first meeting, but Pittsburgh posted a 5-2 win in Toronto on Oct. 11.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh) TSN4, TVA (Toronto)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (10-3-1): Defenseman Olli Maatta rejoined his teammates for Thursday's practice, just 10 days removed from undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on his thyroid gland. "If he reacts positive to the skate today and the doctors take a look at him over the next day or so, he could be back in the next five-to-six days," coach Mike Johnston said. Pittsburgh also shuffled its lines during practice, pairing Crosby with Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis while former Hart Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin joined Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (9-5-2): Peter Holland scored on Wednesday for his third goal in as many contests, and his five points over that stretch is far superior to the one tally and two assists he accumulated in his first 13 games. Cody Franson assisted on Kessel's first goal to extend his point streak to five games. The defenseman has recorded one goal and six assists in that stretch after scoring one tally and setting up two others during his previous nine.
OVERTIME
1. Malkin has collected four goals and five assists during his five-game point streak versus Toronto.
2. Bozak is tied with Malkin and Kunitz for the league lead in power-play goals (five).
3. The Penguins have won five of the last six meetings with the Maple Leafs.