Mar 14, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen (2) knocks down Toronto Maple Leafs forward Clarke MacArthur (16) as he tries to get a shot on Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) at the Air Canada Centre. Pittsburgh defeated Toronto 3-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Every issue leftover from the game in Winnipeg Tuesday seemed to be addressed in the early going against the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins. But Sidney Crosby and company pulled yet another rabbit out of their hat late in the third period.

This game featured almost none of what the game Saturday night did. The run-and-gun style of that contest seemed to have been put in the box by both coaches.

The Toronto Maple Leafs began the game fairly sharp defensively, but failed to capitalize on a few early turnovers. One of which, James van Riemsdyk fed Phil Kessel on a two-on-one break only to see him miss the net from less than 10 feet out.

The first half of the game proved largely uneventful as both teams seemed content to wait to capitalize on the other’s mistakes. At around the midway point, the Leafs broke the ice in brilliant fashion.

JVR sprung Kessel on a lead pass, who stopped up and dropped the puck to Cody Franson, who then fed Tyler Bozak with a perfect pass to the front of the net. It wouldn’t be a stretch to name that the Leafs’ most impressive goal of the year.

Around five minutes into the final frame, the action picked up. Both teams went back and forth and Nazem Kadri appeared to have another goal on his stick, but Marc-Andre Fleury sprawled out to make the save.

Just minutes later, Chris Kunitz, Crosby and Pascal Dupuis would connect on a tic-tac-toe goal to tie the game at ones.

Despite late efforts from the Leafs, Fleury stood tall. Immediately after another big save from the Penguins goalkeeper, Dupuis put the dagger in the heart of Leafs Nation.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Leafs’ late power play was dudded by a dumped puck that trickled its way into the empty net, salting the wounds of the blue-bleeders.

Game Notes

Mar 14, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri (43) gets off a shot as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Paul Martin (7) defends during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Leafs executed their gameplan nearly to perfection.Defensive play was just as Randy Carlyle would have drawn it up. They forced turnovers and stopped the Crosby line for most of the night.

Special teams looked back on track.

The penalty kill was stellar once again, forcing the Pens to retreat for dumped pucks most of the time, avoiding scoring chances.

The power play also looked back in shape. The puck movement was the visible issue in Winnipeg, especially on the 1:55 two-man advantage they squandered.

The insertion of Jean-Michael Liles into the lineup showed its worth, as he caused a couple good chances with his quick passing, both even strength and with the man up.

Scrivens looked good in net. His performance wasn’t anything flashy, but he also didn’t deal with many dangerous chances. He controlled pucks well and prevented any major chances off rebounds.

Once again, the Kessel and Kadri lines stood out in this game. As if Kadri hasn’t done enough on both sides of the puck — being tops on the team in points and second in plus/minus — he’s been drawing a ton of penalties as of late. He drew two more tonight.

Looking Ahead

Leafs fans will undoubtedly freak over the result, but the fact of the matter is they played a great game against a great team. Unlike the meltdown last year, and most of the three games prior to tonight, the Leafs are playing solid hockey.

The Leafs simply played too well to have two bad breaks chalk this game up as ‘another loss on the skid.’

They also played a much better team versus Pittsburgh than they did in Winnipeg. They elevated their game and could have easily come away with two points.

Toronto will continue their Pittsburgh/Winnipeg merry-go-round Saturday as they’ll host the Jets on Hockey Night In Canada.

Mar 9, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Pittsburgh Penguins center Tyler Kennedy (48) congratulates center Sidney Crosby (87) after his game-winning goal in teh shootout against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Penguins beat the Maple Leafs 5-4 in the shootout. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs will play host to the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins tonight after dropping their third-straight game in Winnipeg Tuesday.

The Pens, on the other hand, are winners of six in a row and eight of their last 10 games. They’re also coming off an emotional victory over the Bruins, scoring three late goals to rally for a 3-2 decision.

The two teams, who had a spirited contest last week at the Air Canada Centre, appear to be entering this matchup from two opposite ends of the spectrum. The slumping Leafs and the streaking Pens.

The Leafs are on their first three-game losing streak of the year and Tuesday’s performance saw them hit rock bottom.

The power play’s woes were most evident with a lack of creativity. This translated into poor puck movement in all facets of the game. Tonight’s band-aid solution? Jean-Michael Liles.

Liles has been confirmed as being in the lineup tonight. However, if positive results don’t follow, we could see the return of Jake Gardiner sometime soon. Gardiner has been lighting up the American Hockey League with the Toronto Marlies and his puck-moving ability could certainly help the Leafs.

Injury Report

As for the game the tonight, the Leafs will still be without Joffrey Lupul and the Pens will be without Evgeni Malkin. No real surprises in either lineup tonight other than the anticipated return of recent healthy scratch Liles.

Who To Watch For

Despite Toronto’s 5-2 shellacking Tuesday night, Phil Kessel found the twine twice. He now has five goals in as many games.

Although it came to an end last game, Sidney Crosby was riding an eight-game point streak. In Malkin’s absence, he’s picked up the slack and has been the core of Pittsburgh’s success all season.

James Neal has also elevated his game during their superstar’s injury spell, scoring four goals and nine points in six contests.

Mar 12, 2013; Winnipeg, MB, CANADA; Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler (26) (not pictured) puts the puck past Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer (34) during the second period at the MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

Head To Head

Tonight will mark the final meeting between these two clubs this year. Each has taken a win in the first two games. The Leafs took the opening contest by way of a 5-2 victory. But that was in just the third game of the season.

The second meeting will likely have a greater implication on tonight’s matchup. Just five days ago, the Leafs lost the thriller in a shootout. That game also exposed each team’s primary concern as of late: goals against.

Many Leaf fans have taken to twitter as the proverbial panic button. The main concern seems to be another late-season fallout and the source of blame appears to be the goaltending.

Despite being a stellar tandem all year, James Reimer and Ben Scrivens have struggled to keep the goal count down even in their strong performances.

The problem area can be seen beginning on February 27 in a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Since then, the Leafs have only held the opposition to less than four goals just once over the seven-game span.

The Pens have seemed to solve their problem over the last two games, their last high goal-count coming in Toronto. However, before their last two wins, Pittsburgh allowed at least three goals for seven games in a row. In five of them, they allowed at least four goals against.

Statistics aside, goaltending has been a question mark down the stretch for both squads. But it has been the Penguins who have been able to regroup in back-to-back home games.

For the Leafs, head coach Randy Carlyle had to have been pulling his hair out over the sloppy defense and neutral-zone turnovers displayed in Winnipeg.

Carlyle has said before, he does remind the players of last year’s meltdown. Now that all of Leafs Nation is reminding them of that exact event, expect the Leafs to enter tonight’s game with some added motivation against a Cup favourite.