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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs halted their three-game losing streak with a much-needed win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The two sides traded quick goals in the first period and swapped chances until overtime, where Jake Gardiner – with a great assist from Mitch Marner - nabbed the game-winner for a 2-1 victory.

Takeaways

One is enough: The Maple Leafs have had success blowing opponents out by a few goals, but struggle to hold on in tight games. Going into Saturday night they’d lost the last seven one-goal games they played in, dating back to a 2-1 win in Buffalo on Nov. 3. Drawing the Penguins on a back-to-back and without defencemen Trevor Daley and Kris Letang in the lineup certainly helped. But Toronto also didn’t deviate much from their game plan, which kept the game tied, and when they reached overtime for the third straight game, they continued to press and were ultimately rewarded.

He’s on the board: Nikita Zaitsev was the only one of Toronto’s regular skaters without a goal this season, but he fixed that on Saturday. The blueliner ripped a point shot that hit a Penguins’ stick and flipped over netminder Marc-Andre Fleury for his first goal as an NHL player. Zaitsev is second on the team in average time on ice (22:02) and has tallied 10 assists.  He amassed 32 goals over his seven previous seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, but said after the game, “This is the most important [goal] ever in my life, so I’m really happy today. It’s unbelievable.”

Killer turning point: Early in the third period, in a 1-1 game, Matt Hunwick was assessed a four-minute penalty for high-sticking Patrik Hornqvist in the face – except the replay showed Hornqvist’s own stick hit him in the face as Hunwick lifted it to play the puck. Either way, Hunwick went to the box, and Nikita Soshnikov quickly joined him for delay of game, giving Pittsburgh a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes. Toronto’s special teams stepped up, keeping the score even with a gutsy kill. Roman Polak played 4:56 shorthanded on the night and Zaitsev’s shot block on Sidney Crosby near the end saved a sure goal. The performance deservedly earned the Maple Leafs a standing ovation.

Containing Crosby, the sequel: Nazem Kadri got another crack at shutting down Sidney Crosby and he stepped up to the plate. Crosby was held to just two shots on goal, with one assist (on Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal). He finished with a 33.33 Corsi-for percentage, among the lowest for Penguins forwards. Kadri was relentless against Pittsburgh’s captain and effectively helped to keep him from being a major factor in the game.

Next up: Toronto has one game left in their homestand, a meeting Monday night against the Anaheim Ducks. It will be the first time Andersen has faced his former team since being traded to Toronto in June.