The Pittsburgh Penguins had a few days off to prepare for their Hockey Night in Canada matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite scoring first, they fell behind 3-1 en route to a 4-2 defeat, dropping them to 1-2-0 on the season.
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Rookie Joel Blomqvist started for the second consecutive game, and the Penguins also scored on the power play for the first time in back-to-back games this year. The team hopes to improve upon last season’s 30th ranking.
Here are a few takeaways from Saturday night’s loss in Toronto.
Blomqvist Torched by Elite NHL Snipers
Much to everyone’s surprise, Blomqvist got the nod over incumbent Tristan Jarry to face one of the NHL’s most potent offenses, led by 69-goal scorer Auston Matthews. Although last year’s Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy didn’t light the lamp, his linemates did, including two from two-time 40-goal scorer William Nylander.
Blomqvist only got beat clean by Mitch Marner, a former 99-point scorer with the skill set to put the puck in as little space as possible. Other than that snipe, the Penguins goalie was forced to defend a 3-on-0 and beaten by Nylander for his first tally.
Related: Blomqvist Becomes Second Finnish Goalie To Start A Game For Penguins
Outside the goals, Blomqvist stood tall and finished the evening with 29 saves, still boasting a .906 SV%, his second consecutive outing with those SV% totals. Whether head coach Mike Sullivan wanted to test the Finnish netminder by tossing him in the deep end of the pool or not, he responded with a solid effort despite four goals against.
Malkin Still Does Malkin Things
Last season, Evgeni Malkin collected 67 points and led the team in penalty minutes with 70. As one of the most passionate players who play on an edge, Malkin was directly responsible for the 3-on-0 that led to the Maple Leaf’s first goal of the contest.
In the neutral zone, the Penguins forward had his stick slashed out of his hands. Instead of retrieving it like any other player would, Malkin opted to continue to skate with his hands held high, looking for a penalty call that was not coming.
After seconds of not getting his way, Malkin turned his back on the play, which resulted in a turnover near center ice that sprang Max Domi, Matthew Knies, and Nylander in on the Penguins netminder alone. The result was a tie game at 1-1 just 50 seconds into the middle period.
Related: Penguins Malkin Collects 800th Career Assist
Although Malkin reached 1,300 points in the third period, his selfless act in the early part of the second period led to a game-tying goal and an unnecessary momentum shift. As someone who has taken questionable penalties over the years, looking for a call while the play goes the opposite way is a bad look, no matter how it is spun.
Letang Proves He’s Still Got It
Veteran defenseman Kris Letang fired home a power-play goal to open up the scoring in the first period. It was a beautiful shot and highlighted that the 37-year defenseman still can be an elite scorer amongst blueliners.
Over the past six seasons, the 19-year veteran has reached double digits in lamplighters in all but the 2020-21 season. Letang hasn’t come close to reaching 15 or 16 goals in four seasons, but with one tally through three games, he’s already on pace for 27 goals.
There’s a good chance he won’t reach that total, but with two points in three games, Letang could surpass last season’s 51 points. The last time Pittsburgh qualified for the playoffs, he had a career-high 68 points. He would have edged Malkin for second in team scoring if he had reached that total for the second consecutive season.
The Penguins don’t need that level of contribution, but wouldn’t it be nice if he had another outstanding campaign, considering all the adversity he’s overcome in the past few seasons?
Where Do the Penguins Go From Here?
Don’t look now, but the Montreal Canadiens are not the same pushovers from the 2023-24 season, who finished 12 points behind the Penguins in the wildcard race. They are 2-1-0 with victories over the Maple Leafs (1-0) and Ottawa Senators (4-1). Even in their lone defeat against the Bruins, they still lost by a score of 4-2.
Their netminder, Sam Montembeault, is playing lights out with a single goal against in two starts. Of course, the Penguins have their own goalie controversy brewing, and it will be interesting to see who is starting on Monday morning.
Will Tristan Jarry get a chance to bounce back from a bad performance on opening night? Could Blomqvist get a third straight call, or will we see Alex Nedeljkovic make his regular-season debut?
Additionally, the Penguins are finding some luck on the man advantage, but Montreal is doing just the same as the youngsters are beating Vezina-caliber netminders on a nightly basis.
Related: Can Penguins Break Season Opening Trend?
Although it is only the fourth contest of the year, Pittsburgh is slowly climbing into must-win territory. They must avoid the pitfalls of a slow ten-game start that could doom the remainder of their season.
Monday night’s contest against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre is exclusively on Prime. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
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