Malkin goes 'beast mode,' Penguins clamp down late for victory taken in Toronto (Penguins)

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Evgeni Malkin celebrates his first-period goal on Friday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

TORONTO -- Certainly not satisfied with a lone victory after enduring a seven-game losing streak, the Penguins might not have had their best on Friday night, here at Scotiabank Arena, but good teams find a way to win even when they don't have their best, and the visitors did just that in defeating the Maple Leafs 4-2.

They came out of the gates well. They had their legs churning, they were moving the puck efficiently and cohesively, and there was extreme attention to detail on the backcheck. Still, sometimes when you do all of those things it doesn't lead to a ton of offensive opportunities, and that was the case for most of the night.

Despite mostly controlling play in the first, the Maple Leafs opened the scoring with a goal from former Penguin Zach Aston-Reese, as if that wasn't a given for the defensive specialist who scored all of two goals in 52 games with the Penguins last season before being traded to the Ducks.

With time dwindling down in the opening period, though, Evgeni Malkin managed to slip coverage and pounce on a blocked shot off the stick of Chad Ruhwedel as he rifled the puck to the back of the net, tying the game for his sixth goal of the season:

Wondering what that little celebration was? Malkin was sent to the box for tripping several minutes before the goal, and he wasn't a fan of the call. He wanted to make sure the referee knew how he felt about it. Sending a message, if you will.

"I’m just skating, I play my puck and (the) defenseman turned my way, I can’t do anything. It’s not a penalty," Malkin said, voicing his displeasure. "I was a little bit angry about two penalties in a row. I’m not happy but … I don’t care, but we win."

It's no secret that "Angry Geno" tends to be an unstoppable force. Even at the age of 36, Malkin is still entirely capable of taking over games, and Friday night served as a great reminder.

Just over a minute into the second period, score knotted at 1-1, Malkin leveraged his momentum to blow by Justin Holl, then beating T.J. Brodie to a loose puck along the wall. Brodie took a nice angle to cut-off Malkin's racetrack, but Malkin made something out of nothing with the eyes in the back of his head, spinning and firing a backhand pass to Jason Zucker in the slot for a one-timer that Zucker blistered into the twine:

"It’s just my hockey IQ," Malkin said of his marvelous play. "Sometimes you don’t see guys but you know it’s here."

Malkin hounded the puck all night long. He seemed to end up in the right spots at the right time, just as the greats so effortlessly do, and was rewarded for it.

"I thought he was in beast mode tonight," Mike Sullivan said of Malkin's performance. "He was a threat all night long. When he’s at his best, when he plays the game like we’ve all grown accustomed to watching him over the years, the puck just follows him around, and I thought it was one of those occasions tonight. He scores, he sets up a bunch, he had a bunch of looks. I thought his line was really a threat most of the night."

Malkin's line with Zucker and Rickard Rakell was easily the Penguins' best line throughout the game, and that was with Rakell having what I'd say was a rough game for his standards. Here's how the Penguins fared with the three of them out on the ice during 11:49 of 5-on-5 play, per Natural Stat Trick ...

• 2 goals
• 0 goals against
• 19 shot attempts
• 5 attempts against
• 78.2% share of expected goals

While Sidney Crosby's line struggled to put shots on goal, Malkin's line was a force every time they hopped over the boards.

The Penguins' second line set the foundation for success, but going into the third period, the score was even at 2-2. Fewer than two minutes in, though, Brock McGinn found the back of the net for his second goal in as many games to put the Penguins ahead by a goal, and they absolutely clamped down on the Maple Leafs from there:

Carrying a one-goal lead in the third period against a highly skilled team in their own barn, the Penguins allowed just four shots on goal and one high-danger chance. It was exactly the kind of period they needed to play, especially after being in similar spots but failing to emerge victorious in recent weeks.

"I thought it was a real solid period from our standpoint, just from a structure standpoint," Sullivan said of the third period. "I thought we did a great job in the neutral zone, like I said, from a structure standpoint, trying to take some of their speed away, forcing them to have to dump pucks as opposed to carrying pucks, and I thought we did a good job executing the breakout."

Pretty much everything Sullivan mentioned, the Penguins were doing the opposite when they were blowing leads during their losing streak.

"It was phenomenal. Great response by the guys," Casey DeSmith said. "That’s just a great effort in the third in a tough place to play, on the road, finishing out a game with a one-goal lead. Even in the last two minutes, not letting them get set-up in-zone, just great wall plays and finishing off. Huge team win, great defensive play."

Even with time dwindling in regulation, the Maple Leafs never really had the opportunity to do what they wanted because the Penguins were dictating terms.

"I think after that second period, everybody in this room wasn’t happy with our play, so I think we all talked in here and we knew we had better," McGinn said. "They’re a team that’s very good offensively, so I think we just tried to clog and not give them as much time to make plays and I think we did a good job of that in the third.

"I think we just played the way we should be playing. We wanted to clog up the neutral zone and not give them the time and space to come in with speed, and I think we did a good job slowing down their forecheck and made it a little easier on our D to make some clean breakouts, and when we had the chance to get out of our zone, I think we did a good job."

I followed up with McGinn for his thoughts on what needs to happen to close out games like that on a consistent basis.

"Just having the mindset to go out there and do it for a full 60," he said. "Everybody in this room, when we’re on our game, we can beat anybody in the league. It’s just doing it consistently, like you said, and doing it every night."

The NHL is evolving, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to hang onto leads or even manage momentum swings the same way a team might've been able to do in 2016. That said, DeSmith reiterated McGinn's sentiments about being able to beat anyone when the Penguins aren't beating themselves.

"I think we’re playing more responsibly, doing the little things better in the defensive zone, maybe a little bit more physical protecting the scoring area," DeSmith said. "Little bit better F3 high, giving the D a little bit more support, getting back, less odd-man rushes. Everything’s just coming together for us, and if we keep it up we’re going to win a lot of games."

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Jason Zucker scores his 300th NHL point during the second period on Friday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Zucker's goal in the second period gives him four goals and 10 points in 12 games this season. It cannot be emphasized enough how massive that is for this team. He's playing like the player the Penguins expected to get when he was initially acquired from the Wild several seasons ago. Despite touting that Zucker can be the X-factor, I've also touted that people need to get over the idea of him living up to his $5.5 million cap hit, but if he stays at or even near this level, he'll be living up to his cap hit and then some.

As it stands, Zucker's impacts at both ends of the rink rank in the top quarter of NHL forwards, and the rate at which he's currently producing points at 5-on-5 ranks 39th in the entire league.

Jake Guentzel sealed the game late with an empty-net goal, giving him eight goals in 10 games this season, as well as goals in four consecutive games. Sure, it was only an empty-netter, but it's a little ridiculous how difficult it is to keep him out of the goal column right now. He has gone without a goal in only two games this season, and dating back to last postseason against the Rangers, he has gone without a goal just three times in 17 games. Absurd.

Only five players in the NHL are scoring more frequently per hour than Guentzel during all situations this season.

• DeSmith won't end up on the highlight reel, but he made a number of key saves at important points of the game. He stopped 28 of 30 shots, and now has wins in consecutive games. What's that feel like to have stabilized the Penguins in goal when they needed it most?

"It feels great. My job’s to keep the puck out of the net and I’m just trying to do that," DeSmith told me. "They’re doing the rest. I’m just focusing on my game and doing the best I can every night, and what happens, happens. They picked up their game so much in the third period, it made it really easy on me, and I’m thankful for that."

• I've been one of McGinn's biggest critics since last season, but he really is playing strong hockey right now, and that has little to do with the puck ending up in the back of the net for him in consecutive games. 

"I think I’m just believing in myself and my game right now," he said after the game. "I think I’m putting in the work and just trying to get better every single day."

• Sullivan agreed that McGinn is playing pretty well right now, much of which is thanks to McGinn getting back to the things that have brought him success in the past.

"I think he’s been much better the last few games, just playing with more urgency, more physicality," Sullivan said. "He’s been better on the penalty kill. He’s doing a lot of the little things, blocking shots, the wall play. It’s amazing, when you do the little things, you get rewarded, you get opportunities to score. … I think he’s playing a much stiffer game, and I think that’s when Brock’s at his best."

Marcus Pettersson has made a pretty seamless transition to the Penguins' top-pairing alongside Kris Letang. While Letang still seems to be working through a bit of a rough patch with his game, Pettersson hasn't looked out of place at all. I asked Sullivan if he's been pleased with Pettersson in that role so far.

"Yeah, we’ve been pleased with his game," he told me. "That’s why we’ve kept it the way we’ve kept it. I think Marcus has been our most consistent defenseman, and he’s playing that way game-in and game-out. He’s a real competitive guy, he’s a good two-way defenseman on both sides of the puck. He does everything pretty well, and he’s competing hard. That’s what we love about him. I think he continues to bring consistency to his game, and he’s deserving of that opportunity. He’s earned that."

• I was hopeful that Jeff Carter would build upon a strong return from injury on Wednesday night, but he quickly regressed to the player we've grown accustomed to since the second half of last season. There was one play in particular during the second period in which he made a no-look, fly-by backhand dump down low in the offensive zone that resulted in a change of possession. The Maple Leafs went the other way on a 3-on-2 and the Penguins took a penalty. Of anyone on the team, he's showing his age the most this season.

Jeff Petry led all Penguins skaters with seven hits.

Kasperi Kapanen was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.

• In the spirit of Taylor Haase's press box snack updates, I'll share that the options were pretty limited at Scotiabank Arena, but there was pizza. And I love pizza. It wasn't the greatest, but I'd place it comfortably at a 6/10. I went back for seconds and I'm pretty sure I grabbed the last cheese slice right before Wayne Simmonds could get to it.

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
Live file
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

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THE THREE STARS

As selected at Scotiabank Arena:

1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins C
2. Jason Zucker, Penguins LW
3. William Nylander, Maple Leafs RW

THE INJURIES

• Forward Teddy Blueger remains on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury that he suffered during training camp. He is eligible to be activated at any time, but the Penguins will need to make corresponding roster moves to accommodate his $2.2 million cap hit.

P.O Joseph was injured Wednesday night against the Capitals. He left the game early and did not return. He was a full participant during the Penguins' morning skate on Friday, but did not suit up for the game. 

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan's lines and defense pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Brock McGinn - Jeff Carter - Danton Heinen
Filip Hallander - Ryan Poehling - Josh Archibald

Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Jeff Petry
Chad Ruhwedel - Jan Rutta

And for Sheldon Keefe's Leafs:

Alex Kerfoot - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Nick Robertson - John Tavares - William Nylander
Michael Bunting - Pierre Engvall - Calle Jarnkrok
Zach Aston-Reese - David Kampf - Denis Malgin

T.J. Brodie - Justin Holl
Morgan Rielly - Timothy Liljegren
Mark Giordano - Rasmus Sandin

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins are off to Montreal for a Saturday night matchup with the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. No morning skate. Sullivan will speak at 5 p.m. Puck drops at 7:08 p.m. I'll have your coverage for all of it.

THE CONTENT

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