Pittsburgh 3, Toronto 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Referees:
Ghislain Hebert, Dan O'Rourke
Linesmen:
Thor Nelson, Brian Murphy
Attendance:
18539
By SportsDirect Inc.
PENGUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2: Pascal Dupuis collected two goals and an assist as host Pittsburgh rallied from an early deficit to record its seventh consecutive victory.
Jordan Staal also scored and Brad Thiessen turned aside 22 shots in his second career start for the Penguins, who now sit six points back of the first-place New York Rangers in the Atlantic Division.
All-Star Phil Kessel scored for the second straight day and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson also tallied for the Maple Leafs, who fell to 2-11-1 in their last 14 games. To add injury to insult, Toronto learned that All-Star Joffrey Lupul will miss three-to-four weeks with a separated shoulder.
With the score tied at 2-2, former Maple Leaf Steve Sullivan wristed a feed to Dupuis, who backhanded a shot from the right faceoff circle between the pads of Jonas Gustavsson. The tally came 4:10 into the third period and Thiessen preserved the lead for his second NHL victory.
After Gunnarsson scored to give Toronto a 2-0 lead, Dupuis trimmed the deficit back to one midway into the second period after redirecting defenseman Matt Niskanen's point shot.
Staal leveled the contest 1:34 into the third period after redirecting defenseman Brooks Orpik's point shot for his 22nd tally of the season.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh unveiled a 10 1/4-foot bronze statue depicting Mario Lemieux splitting a pair of defensemen outside the Consol Energy Center on Wednesday. "When they have a statue like this in your honor, it's something special for myself, my family and, of course, the fans who have followed my career," Lemieux said. ... Prior to Wednesday, Toronto had been 20-0-1 when carrying a lead into the third period. The only blemish was a 5-4 shootout loss to Pittsburgh on Jan. 31.
Top Game Performances
Toronto |
|
Pittsburgh |
Carl Gunnarsson 1 |
Points |
Pascal Dupuis 3 |
Carl Gunnarsson 1 |
Goals |
Pascal Dupuis 2 |
Tyler Bozak 1 |
Assists |
Pascal Dupuis 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Jonas Gustavsson .909 |
Save Percentage |
Brad Thiessen .917 |
Jonas Gustavsson 30 |
Saves |
Brad Thiessen 22 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Toronto
|
24 |
2 |
0-4 |
4-4 |
8 |
27 |
Pittsburgh
|
33 |
3 |
0-4 |
4-4 |
8 |
32 |
Upcoming Games
-
Pittsburgh will play their next game at home against Florida. The Penguins have a W/L % of .641 after a win and .556 after a loss.
-
Toronto will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .433 after a win and .459 after a loss.