Phil Kessel pushes Toronto Maple Leafs to second straight win over Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3-NHL Update
It was the first meeting between the two teams and Phil Kessel ensured that Toronto would take the lead as he scored the game-winner, pushing the Maple Leafs to victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, on Saturday night, October 29, 2011, at the sold-out
Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Toronto improved to take the number two spot in the Eastern Conference and boosted their record to 7-2-1 in the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, just below the Pittsburgh Penguins by three points, who stand first with 18.
Taking control during different parts of the match was the most important aspect of the team winning Saturday’s matchup, which certainly did not go unnoticed by Toronto’s head coach, Ron Wilson.
"The most important thing is that we were able to win the face-offs", Wilson said. "We were able to get going real quick -- get it down to the front of the net and make things happen. … Tonight it looked really good".
Mikhail Grabovski gave Toronto the lead a little over midway through the inaugural period during their first power play opportunity as Pittsburgh’s, Evgeni Malkin, was penalised for holding with a minor penalty.
Matt Cooke answered back for the Penguins halfway through the second, closely followed by Tim Connolly for the tie-breaker nearly a minute later and Chris Kunitz to level it once again with less than five minutes remaining.
There were only two power play’s in the second, one by each team, which they did not fail to capitalise on.
Clarke MacArthur took the lead for Toronto again early in the third period, but it was Malkin this time who scored his first goal ever since making a comeback in the season during a power play opportunity of his own.
Two minutes later, Phil Kessel scored the game-winner and became the first shooter in the league to reach double figures in terms of scoring, which ultimately gave them the match.
"You could see that whole thing develop", Wilson said. "Phil's eyes were as big as saucers when he saw the gap. Timmy didn't even hesitate -- he fired it right over with a perfect pass".
The Maple Leafs will be travelling to Ottawa right away to face the Senators on Sunday, while Pittsburgh Penguins play their next game on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
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