Pittsburgh Penguins: Toronto Torches the Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins learned Thursday evening that revenge is a dish best served cold, as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Penguins by a score of 4-0.

After their 5-2 loss Tuesday evening, Toronto vowed the next time they played the Pittsburgh Penguins the end result would be much different and they didn’t disappoint.

Role Reversal

In front of a hometown crowd, Toronto looked like a different team, they outworked the Penguins in all three zones, capitalized on Pittsburgh’s defensive lapses and controlled much of the play from the face-off circle.

The Maple Leafs kept their playoffs hope alive with their second win in five games and stayed two points ahead of the Florida Panthers. The loss was the third time this season Pittsburgh was shutout and gave them a record of 4-1-1 in their past six games.

Some Good News

The Penguins had a little help to stay atop of the Metropolitan Standings.

Montreal defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime. The single point drew the Capitals even with Pittsburgh at 80 points each. The Penguins have a game in hand over the Capitals.

Pittsburgh has two games this weekend, Saturday against Buffalo and Sunday against Washington.

Gone So Soon

Dominik Kauhn, in just his second game back since returning from a concussion, needed the assistance of Evgeni Malkin and Marcus Pettersson to leave the ice with a suspected lower-body injury following a blocked shot late in the third period.

Should Kauhn who has 10 goals and 27 points in 50 games this season, require another extended absence from the line-up, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford may have to reach deep into the club’s pockets to address the team’s needs by the trade deadline on Monday.

Minor Deal

Speaking of trades, the Penguins executed a minor deal with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday afternoon.

Pittsburgh acquired forwards Riley Barber and Phil Varone in exchange for forwards Joseph Blandisi and Jake Lucchini.

Riley Barber has made appearances in 9 games (Dec. 2019) this season with Montreal and has collected 13 goals and 31 points in 39 games with the Laval Rocket of the AHL. Barber is set to become a restricted free agent in July.

Phil Varone has collected 8 goals and 17 points in 97 career NHL games, with the Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, he has 4 goals and 14 points in 27 games with Laval and is also set to hit the market as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

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