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Maple Leafs-Penguins Preview

Dec 27, 2009 - 4:29 AM By JON PALMIERI STATS Editor

Toronto (13-17-8) at Pittsburgh (26-11-1), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Pittsburgh Penguins appear to have every facet of their game working right now. The exact opposite can be said of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The surging Penguins seek their seventh win in eight games while trying to hand the Maple Leafs a fourth straight loss Sunday night at Mellon Arena.

Coming off just their second defeat this month, the Penguins (26-11-1) responded in a big way Wednesday, scoring five second-period goals in an 8-2 rout of visiting Ottawa.

Evgeni Malkin recorded his fourth career hat trick and Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz each added four points as Pittsburgh improved to 9-2-1 in its last 12 games. A victory in this contest would push the Penguins past Washington atop the NHL's overall standings.

Malkin, who had only two goals in his previous 10 games and was held off the scoresheet in each of his past two, posted his first multiple-goal regular-season game since March 17 against Atlanta.

"Sid (Crosby) made good passes to me twice and the power play played good tonight," Malkin said. "We played very well the whole game."

The one area where Pittsburgh needs improvement is the power play, which entered Saturday converting an NHL-worst 15.0 percent. That unit, though, connected three times on eight opportunities against the Senators and will be facing the league's worst penalty-killing team Sunday.

Malkin could be poised for another big game against struggling Toronto (13-17-9). He has seven goals and 24 assists in only 13 career games against the Maple Leafs, including five goals and 10 assists during a six-game point streak.

Malkin won't be the only Penguin happy to face Toronto. Crosby has 10 goals and 17 assists in 17 games versus the Leafs, and scored two power-play goals in Pittsburgh's 5-2 victory at Air Canada Centre on Oct. 10.

Often overshadowed by his more high-profile teammates, Marc-Andre Fleury is in the midst of an excellent season, ranking among the league leaders in wins (22) and goals-against average (2.39). Fleury, though, hasn't been particularly sharp against the Leafs, going 6-5-2 with a 3.04 GAA in 14 games.

Toronto rallied for a point but lost its third straight, 3-2 in overtime to Montreal on Saturday. Ian White and Jason Blake scored for the Leafs, who have outshot their last six opponents but are only 1-3-2 during that span.

"It's always tough when they get two early goals," said Toronto rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.

Poor road play has been a big problem lately for Toronto, which has been outscored 20-7 during a four-game skid away from home.

Gustavsson made 20 saves Saturday in his fourth straight start and appears to have seized control of the No. 1 job. Vesa Toskala, who owns a league-worst 3.81 GAA, is 6-2-0 lifetime against the Penguins despite an unimpressive 3.14 GAA.

Winning with any regularity will be difficult for Toronto if Phil Kessel doesn't regain his scoring touch.

Since scoring goals in three straight games - two of them wins - Kessel has been held without a point in a season-high five consecutive contests with the Leafs going 1-3-1 in that stretch.

Already dealing with the league's worst penalty-killing unit, Toronto hasn't received much production from its power play which is 1 for 19 in the last seven games.