Toronto Maple Leafs: Outplayed By Malkin’s Line

Last night in steel city, the Toronto Maple Leafs were outplayed by Evgeni Malkin’s line and fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins with a score of 5-3.

Pittsburgh’s second line comprised of Malkin, Carl Hagelin and Bryan Rust were extremely productive in their offensive zone last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were responsible for three of Pittsburgh’s five goals.

In the first period, Malkin and Hagelin both snuck the puck past Frederik Andersen. Below, you can relive Hagelin’s goal. Hagelin opened up the scoring for Pittsburgh, and Malkin made it all happen. Malkin delivered the perfect pass to Hagelin. Hagelin out-skated Nikita Zaitsev and was right in front of the net when he collected Malkin’s pass.

As you can see from the get-go, Pittsburgh’s offensive made the Toronto Maple Leafs defense look atrocious. Although, by dressing Roman Polak (as opposed to, say, firing him into the sun) the Leafs did half their job for them.

In the third period, Malkin was showing off his beautiful play-making skill set yet again. This time, he set up Rust. Malkin collected a rebound off of a pad save from Andersen. Malkin then delivered a quick pass to Rust, as he saw that Andersen was ignoring the left side of the net. Rust trapped the puck with skate and delivered a quick shot to bring home another goal for Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey were caught puck watching. They weren’t keeping their eyes open and paying attention to Rust.

Toronto’s Offense Collapsed

While Zaitsev and Hainsey had a rough night for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they weren’t the only ones to blame.

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How about the Toronto Maple Leafs offense in the second period?

The Toronto Maple Leafs couldn’t get a shot on net till the mid-way point of the period. It got so bad that the broadcast put a ‘time since Leafs last shot’ clock on the screen. They were out-shot 16 to 11 in the second.  If the Toronto Maple Leafs expect to win games down the stretch, they need to get shots on net. Though, preventing them remains their biggest problem.

The most frustrating Maple Leaf line was the second line. Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau and Mitch Marner were awful against Pittsburgh. The second line allowed three goals on their watch. It’s hard to fathom how abysmal the second line was as they were electric against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Valentine’s Day.

Next Up: Detroit

Unfortunately for Mike Babcock and the Maple Leafs, they won’t have much rest after the frustrating loss. They’ll battle the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 7:00 PM on Rogers Sportsnet.

Next: Leafs Must Stay Far Away From This Guy

Fortunately for the Maple Leafs, the Red Wings are coming off a back-to-back as well. Perhaps, the Maple Leafs will be able to grab a rebound win in the Motor City against a tired Red Wings offense.

statistics from NHL.com