The Penguins host Toronto in an early afternoon game
Who: Toronto Maple Leafs (37-20-2, 76 points, 1st place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (24-29-9, 57 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 1:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: National broadcast on TNT and truTV streaming on Max
Pens’ Path Ahead: Pittsburgh takes a swing out west for a week after tonight. First up is a stop in Colorado on Tuesday (9pm Eastern start), then Vegas on Friday (10pm) and finishes up in Minnesota to see Marc-Andre Fleury one more time a week from today (3:30pm).
Opponent Track: The Maple Leafs are getting it in gear, they have a 4-0-0 record since the 4 Nations break. That includes a 3-2 result in their last game on Friday night against the Rangers. Matthew Knies did the honors with a third period goal to break the tie.
Season Series: Today’s the rubber match in the three-game PIT/TOR set. The Leafs took the first meeting, a 4-2 decision back in October. The Pens returned the favor with a 5-2 victory in December.
Hidden Stat: The Pens are 6-6-0 on the second half of back-to-back games this season, as they will be today. They’re only 3-10-0 in the first part of them.
Getting to know the Maple Leafs
Projected lines (via practice yesterday)
FORWARDS
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg – John Tavares – William Nylander
Bobby McMann – Calle Jarnkrok – Nick Robertson
Max Pacioretty – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves
DEFENSEMEN
Morgan Rielly / Tyler Myers
Simon Benoit /Jake McCabe
Marshall Rifai / Connor Timmins
Goalies: Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz
Scratches: Alex Steeves, Steven Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (injured), Chris Tanev (injured)
IR: Calle Jarnkrok, Max Pacioretty, Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpaa
—Toronto used a couple IR players in their lines yesterday, we’ll see what comes of that. Pacioretty won’t be playing in today’s game due to his IR status.
—Defensively, the Leafs are banged up. Rifia, 26, might be making his NHL season-debut. He played two NHL games last year and has been with the AHL Marlies for the past three seasons.
—Toronto coach Craig Berube has already announced Woll as the starting goalie this afternoon. The Leafs play again tomorrow, at home against San Jose, and it’ll be Stolarz who gets the call for that game. Woll gave up three goals on 27 shots in Toronto’s loss to the Pens back in December and has only faced Pittsburgh twice in his career (0-2-0 record, 3.10 GAA, .903 save%). It’s kinda surprising Woll, 26, enters the day with only 67 career NHL games, feels like he’s been around longer than that.
Player stats
(via hockeydb)
—Marner entered yesterday tied for fourth in NHL scoring. He’s well behind the top-3 (who all have 87+ points) but has made his mark as an elite point producer. Marner has four points (2G+2A) in the two games against Pittsburgh this season.
—McMann is an interesting player. He scored 15 goals in 56 games last season and has done even better with 17 goals in 51 games this year. He doesn’t get a lot of assists (nine last year, nine so far this season) but a lot of damage at even strength, 30 of his 34 career goals have been scored there. An undrafted player out of Colgate, McMann was dug up by Kyle Dubas and company back in 2021 and made his way up the ranks from the minors into a sneaky productive NHL player.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Anthony Beauvillier – Evgeni Malkin – Cody Glass
Danton Heinen – Kevin Hayes – Philip Tomasino
Emil Bemstrom – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves / Vincent Desharnais
Goalies: Joel Blomqvist starting, Alex Nedeljkovic played yesterday
Potential Scratches: P.O. Joseph (injured?), Vladislav Kolyachonok, Boko Imama
Injured Reserve: Michael Bunting (appendix surgery)
—We’ll see if Joseph can go after leaving yesterday’s game with injury. Kolyachonok was claimed on February 9th and still hasn’t made his Pittsburgh debut, would be nice to see him at some point.
—Crosby is at 61 points in 60 games played this season. Staying above the point/game mark is one of the few compelling storylines left in this season. Crosby only has one point in the last three games, and just three (1G+2A) in the five games since 4 Nations.
—This is the last home game prior to Friday’s trade deadline, which will likely mean the final time at PPG in Penguin colors for at least a player or two out there.