TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Score: Toronto 4 at Minnesota 3
Date: Friday, November 25, 2022
TOR Goals: Marner, Aston-Reese, Järnkrok, Nylander
MIN Goals: Kaprizov, Boldy, Zuccarello
TOR Goaltender: Murray, 25/28, .893 SV%
MIN Goaltender: Fleury, 24/28, .857 SV%
TOR Power Play: 0-for-3
TOR Penalty Kill: 1-for-2
Player Notes: – Mitch Marner scored for Toronto at 3:42 of the first period. Per NHL Stats, “Mitch Marner has factored on Toronto’s first goal in each of its last five contests (1-4-5).” Marner extended his point streak to 15 games where he has recorded 20 points (4G, 16A). In improving to a 15-game point streak, Marner claimed sole possession of sixth on the franchise leader board for the longest point streak during a single season, passing Lorne Carr (14).
- William Nylander scored the game-winning goal for the Maple Leafs at 13:23 of the third period. Nylander has recorded nine points (6G, 3A) through his last eight games.
- John Tavares registered the secondary assist on Marner’s goal and the secondary assist on Calle Järnkrok’s goal. Tavares’ extended his point streak to four games where he has posted seven points (3G, 4A). Tavares recorded his third multi-assist game of the season.
- Mark Giordano posted the primary assist on Järnkrok’s goal. Giordano is now three assists away from 400 career NHL assists.
- Matt Murray stopped 25 of 28 shots he faced in Friday’s win. Murray has earned a win in three-straight games and has captured at least one point through his last five appearances
TONIGHT’S GAME
2022-23 Matchups vs. Pittsburgh: Third of Three
2021-22 Record vs. Pittsburgh: 1-2-0
Toronto Season Record: 12-5-5
Toronto Road Record: 5-3-2
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
The Maple Leafs will play the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in the third and final game between the clubs this season. Toronto won their last road game against the Penguins 5-2 that was played on November 15, 2022 at PPG Paints Arena. The Maple Leafs are 4-0-0 on the road through the month of November. Toronto has earned at least a point through their last six games, posting a 4-0-2 record. The Maple Leafs are playing their second game of a back-to-back, during the 2022-23 season the club has posted a 3-0-1 record in the second game of a back-to-back.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
November 23, 2022 The Maple Leafs acquired defenceman Conor Timmins in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes.
November 22, 2022 The Maple Leafs have recalled defencemen Mac Hollowell and Victor Mete from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).
INJURY REPORT
Jordie Benn Upper Body (IR)
TJ Brodie Oblique (IR)
Carl Dahlström Shoulder (IR)
Jake Muzzin Neck (LTIR)
Morgan Rielly Knee (LTIR)
Ilya Samsonov Knee (IR)
ALL-TIME VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS:
First Matchup between Clubs: December 13, 1967 (Toronto 1 vs. Pittsburgh 2)
All-Time Record: 86-83-17-7 (193 Games)
All-Time Record at Home: 48-34-11-3 (96 Games)
All-Time Record on the Road: 38-49-6-4 (97 Games)
Last Road Win vs. Opponent: November 15, 2022 (Toronto 5 at Pittsburgh 2)
ACTIVE LEADERS VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS:
Games Played: John Tavares (54), Wayne Simmonds (43), Mark Giordano (20)
Goals: Wayne Simmonds (13), John Tavares (12), Auston Matthews (4), Mark Giordano (4)
Assists: John Tavares (25), Mitch Marner (13), Wayne Simmonds (12)
Points: John Tavares (37), Wayne Simmonds (25), Mitch Marner (15)
Penalty Minutes Wayne Simmonds (57), John Tavares (14), Mark Giordano (14)
2022-23 AVERAGES AND RANKINGS
Points % GF/Game GA/Game PP% PK% SF/G SA/G FO%
Toronto .659 2.96 2.64 25.4 77.8 30.2 28.5 51.7
Pittsburgh .595 3.57 3.14 17.1 80.6 33.3 33.3 52.4
NEXT GAME
Date: November 28, 2022
Opponent: at Detroit Red Wings
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Broadcast Information: Sportsnet (TV), TSN 1050 (Radio)
FAST FACTS
Saturday games 7th of 22 (10 home, 12 road)
Back-to-Backs played 4 of 14
Record in first game of back-toback 2-3-0
Record in second game of back-toback 3-0-1
November games 13th of 15 (9 home, 6 road)
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Nov. 25: Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 1 – Wells Fargo Center
PIT Goals: Poehling (2), Archibald, Crosby
Multiple Points: Blueger (3A), Poehling, (2G), Archibald (1G-1A)
Goalie: Jarry (29 saves/30 shots)
Key Stats: Ryan Poehling registered the fourth multi-goal game of his career (2G) and first since Apr. 16, 2022 as Pittsburgh won its fifth straight game.
PP: 0-3
PK: 1-1
Nov. 23: Pittsburgh 2, Calgary 1 (SO) – PPG Paints Arena
PIT Goals: Rutta, Malkin (SOW)
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (33 saves/34 shots)
Key Stats: Evgeni Malkin tallied the shootout winner, marking his first game-deciding shootout goal since Dec. 27, 2017.
PP: 0-3
PK: 3-3
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
N/A None
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 30
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Nov. 15 F Teddy Blueger activated off of LTIR. F Filip Hallander re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Nov. 13 D Mark Friedman re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Nov. 11 D Mark Friedman recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL). F Sam Poulin re-assigned to WBS.
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Toronto: 90-79-24
In Pittsburgh: 53-35-8
In Toronto: 37-44-16
OT Record vs. Maple Leafs: 8-7-4
Shootout Record vs. Maple Leafs: 5-1
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh is 1-1-0.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. MAPLE LEAFS:
Mario Lemieux: 33 GP, 71 PTS (31G-40A)
Evgeni Malkin: 42 GP, 68 PTS (24G-44A)
Sidney Crosby: 49 GP, 65 PTS (29G-36A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
-The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final time this season at PPG Paints Arena (TV: AT&T Sportsnet, Sportsnet, NHLN; Radio: 105.9 The X).
-Pittsburgh is looking to win the season series against Toronto for the thirdstraight season that the teams have played.
-The Penguins have won three of their last four, and have points in nine of their last 13 home games versus the Maple Leafs (9-3-1) dating back to Nov. 27, 2013.
-The Penguins enter tonight’s game with points versus the Maple Leafs in five of their last eight games (5-3-0).
-Going back further, the Penguins have gone 19-11-2 in the last 32 games against the Maple Leafs.
-Tonight’s game begins a five-game homestand, and the Penguins will play seven of their next eight games here at home.
QUICK HITS
1) Pittsburgh has points in eight of its last nine games overall (7-1-1). Since this nine-game stretch began on Nov. 9, no one has picked up more points than Pittsburgh (15).
2) Kris Letang has 10 points (1G-9A) in his last 13 games against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
3) Jeff Carter has 15 goals, nine assists and 24 points in 36 games against Toronto with six of those games being multi-point efforts. He also has four career game-winning goals versus the Maple Leafs which is tied for fourth among all active players.
4) Bryan Rust has 13 points (4G-9A) in 15 career games against Toronto. 11 (4G7A) of those 13 points have come in eight games against the at home.
5) Casey DeSmith is 1-2-0 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage in five career gaems versus Toronto.
TEAM NOTES
PENALTY KILLIN’ IT
Pittsburgh’s penalty killing unit was perfect for the sixth-straight game, going 1-for-1 last night against Philadelphia, and has now killed off 18 of its last 19 penalties over the last seven games. Below is a look at Pittsburgh’s penalty kill by month, which has made significant improvement since October:
Month PK PK% Rank
October 22/31 71.0% 28th
November 32/36 88.9% 1st
Total: 54/67 80.6% 11th
Since Teddy Blueger returned to the lineup from injury, the Penguins have not allowed an opposing power-play goal.
TOO HOT TO HANDLE
The Penguins extended their win streak to a season-long five games last night thanks to a three-goal performance from the team’s fourth line. Pittsburgh’s five-game win streak is the longest active winning streak in the NHL:
Team Win Streak
Pittsburgh 5
Seattle 4
Detroit 4
NY Islanders 3
The Penguins enter tonight’s game with points in five of seven home games this season (4-2-1).
4TH LINE PRODUCING
Pittsburgh’s fourth line of Ryan Poehling, Teddy Blueger and Josh Archibald were a driving force in Pittsburgh’s win in Philadelphia on Friday, finding the scoresheet three times. First, Archibald picked up his fourth goal of the season to open the scoring, giving him four goals and six points through 21 games. Archibald enters tonight’s game as the Penguins leader in penalties drawn and hits:
Player Hits Player Penalties Drawn
Josh Archibald 70 Josh Archibald 10
Jeff Petry 64 Brock McGinn 8
Jason Zucker 50 Evgeni Malkin 7
Marcus Pettersson 40 Ryan Poehling 6
Rickard Rakell 40 Jason Zucker 5
Poehling scored twice, giving him four points over his last five games (3G-1A). He has three career goals in four games versus Toronto, with all three of those goals coming in his NHL debut on Apr. 6, 2019 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Blueger assisted on all three goals, giving him his first multi-point outing of the season and first career three-assist game. He also tied a career high with three points, previously set twice and most recently on Mar. 27, 2022 versus Detroit (1G-2A). He finished plus-2, making him plus or even in five of his six games this season.
