• Who: Penguins (24-29-9) vs. Maple Leafs (37-20-2) • What: NHL regular season, Game 63 • When: 1:05 p.m. • Where: PPG Paints Arena • Goaltenders: Joel Blomqvist(4-9-0, .890 SV%) vs. Joseph Woll (20-11-0, .910 SV%) • TV: TNT, truTV • Radio: Penguins Radio Network • Streaming: Max • Boxscore: NHL.com • Medianotes: Penguins | Maple Leafs
► FOLLOW THE ACTION
• GOAL: Nylander beats Blomqvist blocker side just one minute into overtime. Maple Leafs win, 6-5
• Overtime starts now.
• Penguins earn at least a point. This one's going to overtime.
• 5:19 left in the game. The goaltending finally showed up. Penguins lead in shots, 33-32.
• Grzelcyk stepped up at the blue line, but the puck bounced past him giving Tavares a golden scoring chance. Denied by Blomqvist.
• Karlsson had a chance to make up for his mistakes. Leafs let him walk in from the half wall. He let go of a heavy wrister, but hit the post.
• Another Karlsson turnover leads to a 3-on-1 for the Maple Leafs, but Blomqvist fights off the chance.
• GOAL: Rakell with his second of the game, just 10 second into the period. Gorgeous move to get around Matthews, then buried a backhander on Woll's glove side. Tied, 5-5
• Two breakaway goals given up in the final minute of the second period. That's how you lose hockey games. Completely negates a solid 30 minutes of play in the offensive zone.
• GOAL: Oh, my. What a terrible way to end the second period. Off an offensive zone faceoff, Karlsson turns the puck over on a blind pass at the blue line to Knies, who skates down and beats Blomqvist with .01 on the clock. Once again, blocker side. Maple Leafs, 5-4
• GOAL: Leafs answer with less than one minute to go in the period. Jake McCabe broke Tavares free while the Penguins' defense was changing, and he beat Blomqvist clean low blocker. Tied, 4-4
• Crosby with a chance on a sliding tip off a Rakell shot. Reminiscent of his infamous redirect goal in 2007 against the Lightning.
• Penguins kill off the Letang tripping minor. Blomqvist has been solid this period.
• Big save on the penalty kill by Blomqvist on a one-timer from Matthews.
• PENALTY: Maple Leafs getting their first power play. Letang trips Pontus Holmberg on an odd-man rush. 11:59 remaining in the second period.
• As good as Toronto was with their offensive zone entries in the first 10 minutes of the first period, their play in the neutral zone since has been horrendous. When they keep it simple, they get the puck in the zone.
• Tomasino nearly gave the Penguins the lead again. Almost buried a wrap-around attempt, but Ekman-Larsson got enough of his stick to keep the puck out of the empty net.
• GOAL: High-danger chance was worked to the corner, but Matthews emerges and snipes one past Blomqvist. Tied, 3-3
• First period comes to an end with a glove save by Blomqvist on a shot by Oliver Ekman-Larsson from the point. Penguins fell behind, 2-0, were being outshot, 10-2, then stormed back with three goals in 3:27, and now lead, 17-13, in shots.
• Leafs kill the penalty this time, but it was another solid effort. Multiple scoring chances.
• Penguins are really doing a great job of getting pucks to the net right now. Have been ever since Glass' goal. Penguins now lead in shots, 14-13.
• PENALTY: Penguins going back to the power play. Domi tripped Graves behind the net in the Pittsburgh zone. Domi giveth, and Domi taketh away. 4:15 left in the period.
• POWER PLAY GOAL: Crosby with a wrister from the left faceoff dot. Great keep by Erik Karlsson kept the play alive. It was Crosby's 611th career goal, surpassing Bobby Hull for 18th on the all-time list. Penguins, 3-2
Sidney Crosby strikes for the Penguins on the power-play!
• PENALTY: Penguins to the power play. Slashing penalty on Domi. 6:52 remaining in the period.
• Momentum has completely shifted. Penguins have been able to establish a good amount of time in the Toronto zone.
• GOAL: Crosby wins an offensive zone faceoff back to Matt Grzelcyk, who shoots a wrister wide left of the net, hits the end wall and bounces to Rickard Rakell, who bangs it in the net on the right side. It's Rakell's 500th NHL point. Tied, 2-2
• GOAL: Penguins on the board. Blake Lizotte with a nice power move to get behind the net, feeds Ryan Shea crashing in from the point and booms a slapper, which Cody Glass tips past Joseph Woll. 9:33 remaining in the period. Maple Leafs, 2-1
• Really nice save by Blomqvist on a tip by Matthew Knies off an Auston Matthews shot.
• Toronto's zone entries are so crisp right now. The Penguins' breakouts are not. Recipe for disaster against a team with that much firepower.
• That early first shift is the only semblance of life for the Penguins. Toronto is outshooting Pittsburgh, 10-2, less than seven minutes into the first period. Oof.
• That was Timmins' first goal in 35 games.
• GOAL: Conor Timmins shoots one over Blomqvist's right shoulder from a sharp angle below the dot on the left wing. He got a little of it, but not nearly enough to stop it. Just can't let that one in. Maple Leafs, 2-0
• Just don't understand that play by Graves. Get the puck to the corner. Blomqvist could have covered it, too.
• GOAL: Ryan Graves makes a weird play with the puck after Joel Blomqvist paddles it away, turns it over and Nicholas Robertson feeds Bobby McCann and Max Domi pounces on the juicy rebound. Maple Leafs, 1-0
• Some nice offensive zone time for Crosby's line right away. Just never got the puck to the net.
• Faceoff:Sidney Crosby vs. Auston Matthews, 1:05 p.m. Let's do this thing.
• No boos for O Canada. As it should be.
• Lines and pairings for the Penguins:
Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust Anthony Beauvillier - Evgeni Malkin - Philip Tomasino Danton Heinen - Kevin Hayes - Emil Bemstrom Blake Lizotte - Cody Glass - Noel Acciari
Ryan Shea - Kris Letang Matt Grzelcyk - Erik Karlsson Ryan Graves - Vincent Desharnais
• Lines and pairings for the Maple Leafs:
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner Pontus Holmberg - John Tavares - William Nylander Bobby McMann - Max Domi - Nicholas Robertson Connor Dewar - David Kampf - Ryan Reaves
Morgan Reilly - Olivier Ekman-Larsson Jake McCabe - Philippe Myers Simon Benoit - Conor Timmins
• The Maple Leafs placed defenseman Chris Tanev on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 25, and activated forward Connor Dewar from IR.
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THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
4:05 am - 03.02.2025UptownFinal: Maple Leafs 6, Penguins 5
• Who: Penguins (24-29-9) vs. Maple Leafs (37-20-2)
• What: NHL regular season, Game 63
• When: 1:05 p.m.
• Where: PPG Paints Arena
• Goaltenders: Joel Blomqvist (4-9-0, .890 SV%) vs. Joseph Woll (20-11-0, .910 SV%)
• TV: TNT, truTV
• Radio: Penguins Radio Network
• Streaming: Max
• Boxscore: NHL.com
• Media notes: Penguins | Maple Leafs
► FOLLOW THE ACTION
• GOAL: Nylander beats Blomqvist blocker side just one minute into overtime. Maple Leafs win, 6-5
• Overtime starts now.
• Penguins earn at least a point. This one's going to overtime.
• 5:19 left in the game. The goaltending finally showed up. Penguins lead in shots, 33-32.
• Grzelcyk stepped up at the blue line, but the puck bounced past him giving Tavares a golden scoring chance. Denied by Blomqvist.
• Karlsson had a chance to make up for his mistakes. Leafs let him walk in from the half wall. He let go of a heavy wrister, but hit the post.
• Another Karlsson turnover leads to a 3-on-1 for the Maple Leafs, but Blomqvist fights off the chance.
• GOAL: Rakell with his second of the game, just 10 second into the period. Gorgeous move to get around Matthews, then buried a backhander on Woll's glove side. Tied, 5-5
• Puck drops for the third period.
• Two breakaway goals given up in the final minute of the second period. That's how you lose hockey games. Completely negates a solid 30 minutes of play in the offensive zone.
• GOAL: Oh, my. What a terrible way to end the second period. Off an offensive zone faceoff, Karlsson turns the puck over on a blind pass at the blue line to Knies, who skates down and beats Blomqvist with .01 on the clock. Once again, blocker side. Maple Leafs, 5-4
• GOAL: Leafs answer with less than one minute to go in the period. Jake McCabe broke Tavares free while the Penguins' defense was changing, and he beat Blomqvist clean low blocker. Tied, 4-4
• With that assist on the Rust goal, Crosby passes Gordie Howe for 10th-most assists all-time in NHL history. Milestones being achieved today.
• GOAL: Oh, my. Crosby picks up another assist, this time feeding Rust, who deked to his backhand and tucked it past Woll. Penguins, 4-3
• Crosby with a chance on a sliding tip off a Rakell shot. Reminiscent of his infamous redirect goal in 2007 against the Lightning.
• Penguins kill off the Letang tripping minor. Blomqvist has been solid this period.
• Big save on the penalty kill by Blomqvist on a one-timer from Matthews.
• PENALTY: Maple Leafs getting their first power play. Letang trips Pontus Holmberg on an odd-man rush. 11:59 remaining in the second period.
• As good as Toronto was with their offensive zone entries in the first 10 minutes of the first period, their play in the neutral zone since has been horrendous. When they keep it simple, they get the puck in the zone.
• Tomasino nearly gave the Penguins the lead again. Almost buried a wrap-around attempt, but Ekman-Larsson got enough of his stick to keep the puck out of the empty net.
• GOAL: High-danger chance was worked to the corner, but Matthews emerges and snipes one past Blomqvist. Tied, 3-3
• Puck drops for the second period.
• First period comes to an end with a glove save by Blomqvist on a shot by Oliver Ekman-Larsson from the point. Penguins fell behind, 2-0, were being outshot, 10-2, then stormed back with three goals in 3:27, and now lead, 17-13, in shots.
• Leafs kill the penalty this time, but it was another solid effort. Multiple scoring chances.
• Penguins are really doing a great job of getting pucks to the net right now. Have been ever since Glass' goal. Penguins now lead in shots, 14-13.
• PENALTY: Penguins going back to the power play. Domi tripped Graves behind the net in the Pittsburgh zone. Domi giveth, and Domi taketh away. 4:15 left in the period.
• POWER PLAY GOAL: Crosby with a wrister from the left faceoff dot. Great keep by Erik Karlsson kept the play alive. It was Crosby's 611th career goal, surpassing Bobby Hull for 18th on the all-time list. Penguins, 3-2
• PENALTY: Penguins to the power play. Slashing penalty on Domi. 6:52 remaining in the period.
• Momentum has completely shifted. Penguins have been able to establish a good amount of time in the Toronto zone.
• GOAL: Crosby wins an offensive zone faceoff back to Matt Grzelcyk, who shoots a wrister wide left of the net, hits the end wall and bounces to Rickard Rakell, who bangs it in the net on the right side. It's Rakell's 500th NHL point. Tied, 2-2
• GOAL: Penguins on the board. Blake Lizotte with a nice power move to get behind the net, feeds Ryan Shea crashing in from the point and booms a slapper, which Cody Glass tips past Joseph Woll. 9:33 remaining in the period. Maple Leafs, 2-1
• Really nice save by Blomqvist on a tip by Matthew Knies off an Auston Matthews shot.
• Toronto's zone entries are so crisp right now. The Penguins' breakouts are not. Recipe for disaster against a team with that much firepower.
• That early first shift is the only semblance of life for the Penguins. Toronto is outshooting Pittsburgh, 10-2, less than seven minutes into the first period. Oof.
• That was Timmins' first goal in 35 games.
• GOAL: Conor Timmins shoots one over Blomqvist's right shoulder from a sharp angle below the dot on the left wing. He got a little of it, but not nearly enough to stop it. Just can't let that one in. Maple Leafs, 2-0
• Just don't understand that play by Graves. Get the puck to the corner. Blomqvist could have covered it, too.
• GOAL: Ryan Graves makes a weird play with the puck after Joel Blomqvist paddles it away, turns it over and Nicholas Robertson feeds Bobby McCann and Max Domi pounces on the juicy rebound. Maple Leafs, 1-0
• Some nice offensive zone time for Crosby's line right away. Just never got the puck to the net.
• Faceoff: Sidney Crosby vs. Auston Matthews, 1:05 p.m. Let's do this thing.
• No boos for O Canada. As it should be.
• Lines and pairings for the Penguins:
Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Anthony Beauvillier - Evgeni Malkin - Philip Tomasino
Danton Heinen - Kevin Hayes - Emil Bemstrom
Blake Lizotte - Cody Glass - Noel Acciari
Ryan Shea - Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves - Vincent Desharnais
• Lines and pairings for the Maple Leafs:
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - Nicholas Robertson
Connor Dewar - David Kampf - Ryan Reaves
Morgan Reilly - Olivier Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe - Philippe Myers
Simon Benoit - Conor Timmins
• The Maple Leafs placed defenseman Chris Tanev on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 25, and activated forward Connor Dewar from IR.
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