Game Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Pittsburgh Penguins 12/7/2024

Both the Pens and Leafs are looking to bounce back from Friday night losses.

Who: Toronto Maple Leafs (16-8-2 points, 1st place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (11-13-4, 26 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Local streams on CBC and SportsNet Pittsburgh, national streams on NHL Network

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens get two days off before their next game on Tuesday, but are set for a crowded stretch coming up with the upcoming home game against the Colorado Avalanche followed by road contests in Montreal and Ottawa over a span of six days.

Opponent Track: The Maple Leafs are heading into this matchup on the wrong end of a back-to-back. While the Pens were losing 4-2 in New York City, the Leafs were losing 3-1 to the visiting Capitals.

Season Series: Kris Letang opened scoring with a power-play goal at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 12, but the Leafs answered with three straight even-strength goals as the Pens dropped a 4-2 road decision. These two teams meet for a third time when the Leafs return to Pittsburgh on March 2.

Getting to know the Leafs

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner

Pontus Holmberg - John Tavares - William Nylander

Nicholas Robertson - Fraser Minten - Steven Lorentz

Nikita Grebenkin - Connor Dewar - Ryan Reaves

DEFENSEMEN

Oliver Ekman-Larsson / Chris Tanev

Morgan Rielly / Philippe Myers

Simon Benoit / Conor Timmins

Goalies: Joseph Woll (Anthony Stolarz started last night)

IR: David Kampf, Max Pacioretty, Calle Jarnkrok, Max Domi, Bobby McMann

Potential Scratches: Jake McCabe (day-to-day)

• Former Penguin Ryan Reaves recently returned from a five-game suspension, during which he lost more than $35,000 in salary, for an illegal check to the head of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. He told reporters on Wednesday that “I play the way I play,” and that sometimes “a hit gets away” from him, per The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel.
• Auston Matthews returned one week ago from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for nine games. He had five points (three goals, two assists) in his first three games back before he was held scoreless by the Caps on Friday night.
• Mitch Marner recorded seven assists over that same span.
• The Leafs have been dealing with a spate of injuries that have allowed rookies like Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin the opportunity to slot into the lineup.
• Max Pacioretty is eligible to come off the injured reserve today. He has been since suffering a hamstring injury in November but rejoined practice this week.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• Joseph Woll is set to start against the Pens after first-stringer Anthony Stolarz played against the Capitals last night. Woll is on a hot streak with a 6-0-0 mark in his last six appearances, including a 31-save shutout of the Vegas Golden Knights. He has recorded a 1.82 goals against average and .935 save percentage over the span.

• Checking in: Toronto had won seven of the team’s last eight games heading into Friday, outscoring opponents 27-19 over the span.

The Leafs then put up just 21 shots in a narrow 3-1 loss to the Capitals, the final score of which was padded by an empty-netter. The Knies-Matthews-Marner top line was a minus-2 on the night.

The Toronto power play, which has been a weakness through the early stretch of the season, continued to struggle on Friday with a 0-for-2 success rate against the Capitals. The good news for the Leafs is that team has a top-ten penalty kill, and they’re generally scoring enough at even strength to remain a top team in the Atlantic.

There are other good signs for the Leafs heading forward despite an overall underwhelming performance on Friday against the Caps. If Matthews has recovered from whatever undisclosed injury has been bothering him, Toronto will hope he can return to his usual Rocket Richard scoring pace after a relatively slow start to the season. Another positive indication is veteran center John Tavares’ resurgence as nearly a point-per-game player following his 36-point campaign in 2023-24.

Again, few of those strengths were on display as the Caps held the Leafs in check on Friday night. But the Leafs likely aren’t expecting as tightly-controlled a performance from the Pens’ blueliners and could look to bounce back on offense tonight.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust

Drew O’Connor - Evgeni Malkin - Philip Tomasino

Michael Bunting - Blaze Lizotte - Anthony Beauvillier

Kevin Hayes - Cody Glass - Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk / Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson

Owen Pickering / Ryan Shea

Goalies: Tristan Jarry (Alex Nedeljkovic started last night)

Potential Scratches: Ryan Graves, Jesse Puljujarvi, Matt Nieto

IR: none

• Tristan Jarry will suit up tonight after Nedeljkovic recorded Friday night’s loss to the Rangers.
• Nieto was scratched on Friday night as Cody Glass returned to the lineup for the first time in 13 games.
• Crosby skated in his 1,300th game last night.