First Defeat for the Maple Leafs – Pittsburgh Penguins Win 3-0

The Toronto Maple Leafs were bound to see their winning streak come to an end, and last night, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins to do just that with a 3-0 victory that saw Matt Murray making 38 saves to earn his first shutout of the season Thursday night.

Evgeni Malkin scored twice for Pittsburgh, his first early in the first period, and one on an empty net. Kris Letang added a third for the Penguins, and earning assists were Malkin, Letang, Crosby and Bryan Rust.

Crosby’s assist put him in a tie with the legendary Darryl Sittler as the 60th player in the NHL for all-time points, one that Crosby will beat, but on a night playing against the Leafs, tying one of their most iconic players from the past was not lost on some.

Toronto Goalie, Frederik Andersen, back from the injuries list had 36 saves, but the star of the night was Matt Murray, who earned his seventh career shutout. Murry was playing his first game back after suffering a concussion during practice early in October.

Austin Matthews was hoping for a big night. Currently leading the NHL in points (16), he was hoping to become only the third player in the history of the NHL to score a point in eight consecutive games but failed to make it happen.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins went into last night’s game after suffering back-to-back losses, one to Vancouver, the other to Montreal and were looking for a win. It took Pittsburgh less than 10 minutes of the first period to get on the scoreboard after the Leafs were handed a penalty for too many players on the ice.

Sidney Crosby won the faceoff, and Malkin picked up the puck firing a shot towards Andersen and through his pads to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. While the Maple Leafs has multiple scoring opportunities, they failed to capitalise on them. Tavares has several, but each time Murry closed the door. Time and time again, Murry was in position and shut down the Leafs, who were agitated after officials failed to notice a nasty high stick that connected with Zach Hyman.

Mitch Marner also had several chances in the second and third periods but failed to get the puck past Murry. The frustration grew for the Leafs as the midway point of the third period arrived, Kadri has a few solid scoring opportunities with eight minutes left, but the tight Penguins structure in front of the net and the solid goaltending by Murry put a stop to both.

After Mike Babcock pulled Andersen from the net as the clocked ticked, LeTang scored to make it 3-0 for the Penguins and an end to the game. Punters can look forward to the Leafs next game as they welcome the St Louis Blues at 7 pm at the Scotiabank Arena. Those looking to get behind the Leafs for Saturday night’s game will find strong odds in their favour at multiple leading Canadian friendly sportsbooks such as Spin Palace Sports, a favourite amongst Canadian bettors.