Just when the Leafs thought they were in prime position to end the Penguins’ winning streak, the hometown heroes scored three unanswered goals to force overtime before winning in a shootout.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots including 14 in the first period as the Penguins seemed to fight their way through two sluggish periods before rallying in the third.
Mikhail Grabovski, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, broke the 0-0 tie 6:51 into the second period. Dion Phaneuf took the puck along the far side and eventually centered Grabovski from behind the net. Grabovski’s shot slipped under Fleury’s left pad for the first goal of the game.
Three minutes later, Grabovski struck again. Clarke MacArthur fed Grabovski whose wrist shot between the circles, perfectly caught the top left corner of the net.
Already up 2-0, the Leafs had ample opportunities to extend their lead, including a 2 on 0 in which the puck seemed to hop over the stick at the last second. Within minutes, the Penguins had surrendered three odd man rushes but the Leafs failed to capitalize on any of them.
With time winding down in the second period, the Penguins cut the deficit in half. Paul Martin’s slapshot with under four minutes remaining was deflected in front by Matt Cooke. Cooke gave the goal right back to Toronto when he was called for tripping six minutes into the third period. Tyler Bozak’s slapshot from the right wing was perfect as it found its way past Marc-Andre Fleury and in the net.
The Penguins surrendered a fourth goal just 19 seconds later as Clarke MacArthur looked to put the finishing touches on a win.
But Pittsburgh battled back.
With under 13 minutes remaining in the game, Steve Sullivan poke-checked the puck away from Jake Gardiner who fell down in the offensive zone. With Gardiner down, Sullivan took the puck, skated down the right wing and blasted a shot past the glove hand of goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.
From there, the Penguins were on the comeback trail. After blowing a chance to score on the power play, Joe Vitale scored to bring the Penguins within one. Pascal Dupuis forced a turnover behind Toronto’s net, leading Vitale to pass the puck to Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy’s shot from the far circle was stopped by Gustavsson who lost sight of the puck just long enough for Vitale to swoop in and bury the rebound.
While Pittsburgh’s first three goals were a product of Dan Bylsma’s system, the fourth goal was just plain luck.
With under ten seconds to go, Sullivan fed James Neal for a one-timer that deflected off of Malkin’s chest and in the net. The play was reviewed and the call stood as the majority of 18,535 fans cheered in anticipation for overtime.
The Penguins would’ve never gotten to overtime had it not been for Marc-Andre Fleury’s stellar saves in the final minutes of the game. Fleury made back to back saves late in the third period on Nikolai Kulemin and Tim Connolly. Kulemin’s shot bounced up in the air and landed in front of Connolly whose wrist shot from point blank range was held by Fleury.
The biggest save, however, may have come from Kris Letang. With Tyler Bozak on a breakaway, Fleury aggressively dove for the puck before Bozak could make a move. The puck caromed to the right of Marc-Andre Fleury and Michael Lombardi was staring at a wide open net with the puck. His shot, however, was stopped by the outstretched stick of Letang, taking away what was surely believed to be a game-ending goal.
The Leafs failed to put the Penguins away in regulation, failed to score in overtime, and allowed the team with the second best shootout record in the Eastern Conference to seal the victory instead.
After Letang and Grabovski were stopped, Evgeni Malkin fired a wrist shot off the left post and in the net to produce the only tally in the shootout.
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