It didn’t happen exactly that way – he had his chances, but he didn’t bury them. Coach Mike Johnston said after the game that “we’ll make a few changes and adjustments” because “we do have to get our power play in synch”. “But it’s one of 82”.
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“I thought once Bernie settled in he played good”, said Babcock, “but we need Bernie to settle in right from the get-go”.
Despite six sometimes turbulent seasons, Kessel insists he enjoyed his time in Toronto.
The Maple Leafs were never able to reverse the damage though.
“We did a lot of good things, but we ran out of energy in the third”, Babcock said. “Was it understanding? Fitness?”
“I think it was a welcome surprise, that unknown, I guess”, said the 36-year-old.
Those numbers are even more impressive on home ice where he has found his way onto the score sheet 13 of the 14 times that he’s faced them. He wasn’t much of a factor, despite logging 20:47 of ice-time.
“They are good players”, Komarov said.
A win against them made it little easier. “We do have to get our power play in sync”.
“That’s the biggest thing”, said Crosby. It doesn’t matter who’s going to score. “We just need to keep getting better”.
Desperate for another Cup, Pittsburgh took a big swing in landing Kessel and the seven remaining years of his contract this past summer.
Pittsburgh added Kessel to help bolster an already-dynamic offense, centered around Crosby and Malkin.
Kessel might have been a bit nervous.
At this point previous year, the Penguins were on their way to leading the league in power-play goals at a scorching pace. He’s usually better with the puck than that. After surrendering goals against Montreal and Detroit on his first shot, Bernier once again stumbled out of the gate, allowing two goals on the first four Penguins shots. Probably [the playmaking] was probably the most underrated I felt. “If your top scorers are on a roll and your power play is not working, obviously you have a few concerns”, Johnston said. “I think the confidence is obviously high. You have to be ready”.
The Penguins, who started 0-3, have won consecutive games. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier, making his first start, stopped 31 shots.
One storyline the game was robbed of was seeing two friends line up against each other.
NOTES: Maple Leafs’ F Tyler Bozak was scratched against Pittsburgh after leaving Friday’s game against Columbus with a lower-body injury. The game meant as much to them.
Malkin, on easing the pressure that built up when the Penguins lost their first three games: “When you start the season 0-3, it’s not fun”. Arcobello played 10. Spaling and Harrington were part of the massive trade that sent Kessel to Pittsburgh.
Jonathan Bernier will get the nod Saturday, but has dropped all five career decisions (0-3-2) to Pittsburgh while recording a 3.55 goals-against average.ABOUT THE PENGUINS (1-3-0): Evgeni Malkin, who scored his first goal of the young season in Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Ottawa, has tormented Toronto in his career.
Forward Ty Loney scored two goals for the Wheeling Nailers who opened the season with a 3-0 shutout at home of the Norfolk Admirals Friday.
Despite showing an ability to fight back from deficits in two games prior, the Leafs offence failed to pick up when it was needed.
Nazem Kadri and Peter Holland also had strong two-way games for the Leafs, while Malkin was denied a couple of times after his initial goal. It worked, to a degree.
Oh, and during intermission the goal is moved to Komarov.
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Repeating an exercise he performed annually with Ken Holland as Detroit’s head coach, Babcock tried to prognosticate his new team’s goal total for the coming year.
