Penguins top Maple Leafs in shootout, 6-5
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The Penguins celebrate a shootout win against the Maple Leafs following Saturday's game at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
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TORONTO -- Maybe these two points will make a difference in mid-April.
Perhaps, they'll be what earns the Penguins home-ice advantage for a round or two in the Stanley Cup playoffs or gets them a more favorable matchup.
But on this night, in the minutes after their 6-5 shootout victory against Toronto at the Air Canada Centre, the talk was not of the impact beating the Maple Leafs might have in a month or so, but of what winning a game means for the Penguins right now.
Not because it raised their record to 37-21-6, or because it lifted them to within six points of Philadelphia, which is in first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
No, it mattered so much because they had been in a 0-2-2 skid. Because they had lost their previous three one-goal decisions. Because earning two points can scrape away a lot of scar tissue that builds up on a team's psyche when it is struggling.
"It's huge for us right now, at this moment," center Max Talbot said. "It was nice to tie it [in the third period], but we wanted the win."
While this was not a game that will turn up in an instructional video -- fact is, both coaches might consider putting the tape through a shredder at the earlier opportunity -- the Penguins had to get a lift from scoring five goals in regulation for the first time since Jan. 12.
"We were able to score five goals," left winger Mike Rupp said. "And, for us, that's about four weeks' worth."
It had to be especially satisfying since Alex Kovalev, acquired from Ottawa Thursday, figured prominently in their outburst.
He scored an even-strength goal late in the first period and the only one by either team in the shootout, as he unleashed a shot that sailed over Toronto goalie James Reimer's glove, off the goalpost and in.
Kovalev also had at least one costly turnover, too, but if he can continue to produce goals in key situations, the blemishes in his game will be pretty easy to overlook.
"He's clutch," center Mark Letestu said.
Letestu, who had been out since he sustained a knee injury in a game-day skate in New York Feb. 1, returned to the Penguins' lineup, but right winger Tyler Kennedy and defenseman Paul Martin sat out the game.
First Published February 27, 2011 12:00 am
