Time: Saturday, February 2nd, 2019
Toronto: 30-17-3 for 63 points
Pittsburgh: 28-17-6 for 62 points
The Toronto Maple Leafs look to pick up the pieces and continue their winning ways against teams that are in a playoff position as they take on the Pittsburgh Pengins at home.
Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup
Mitch Marner –62 points (20 goals 42 assists)
John Tavares – 54 points (30 goals 24 assists) 54% on face-offs
Morgan Rielly – 51 points (13 goals 38 assists)
Auston Matthews – 45 points (22 goals 23 assists) 53% on Face-offs)
Sidney Crosby – 60 points (22 goals 38 assists)
Phil Kessel – 57 points (21 goal 36 assist)
Evgeni Malkin – 55 points (14 goal 41 assists)
Jake Guentzel – 49 points (26 goal 23 assists)
Garrett Sparks
6-3-1 2.91GAA .909SV%
Casey DeSmith
13-9-4 2.69GAA .918SV%
Lineups:
Toronto:
Mitch Marner– Auston Matthews – Patrick Marleau
Kasperi Kapanen – John Tavares – Zach Hyman
Connor Brown – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander
Andreas Johnsson – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier
Morgan Rielly – Jake Muzzin
Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott – Ron Hainsey
Garrett Sparks
Frederik Andersen
Scratched: Justin Holl
Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back),Tyler Ennis (Leg)
Suspension: None
Pittsburgh:
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Dominik Simon
Bryan Rust– Nick Bjugstad– Phil Kessel
Tanner Pearson – Jared McCann – Patric Hornqvist
Garrett Wilson – Teddy Blueger – Matt Cullen
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Olli Maatta – Juuso Riikola
Marcus Petterson – Jack Johnson
Casey DeSmith
Matt Murray
Scratched: None
Injuries: Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese & Evgeni Malkin
Suspension: None
Keys to Winning against Pittsburgh
- Attack the Defence
- A lot young inexperienced blueliners on Pittsburgh right now. Force them to make plays under pressure.
- Better defensive positioning
- Need to be better in the defensive end or else that top line especially will make us pay.
- Powerplay
- This has got to get going and fast. 0-5 yesterday and a whopping 1-11 in the last few days.
