Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (15-11-9, 39 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (15-15-5, 35 points, 8th place Atlantic Division)
When: 4:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: National broadcast
on TNT, HBO Max and truTV
Pens’ Path Ahead: Tonight is the last game before the Pens’ holiday break. They’ll look to brighten what has been a tough December with a second straight win, then enjoy four days off before heading to Chicago on Sunday for a matchup with a Blackhawks team missing injured center Connor Bedard.
Opponent Track: The Maple Leafs, a perennial regular-season juggernaut in the Auston Matthews era, have been spiraling down the standings right alongside the Pens these past two weeks. The Leafs head into the matchup having gone 1-4-1 in their last six, and they most recently conceded a 5-1 defeat in Dallas on Sunday.
Season Series: This is the last time these two teams will meet this season. The Penguins are looking to finally get the upper hand after losing both in Toronto (where the Pens blew a third-period three-goal lead and lost in regulation on Nov. 3) and in Pittsburgh (where the Pens allowed four straight goals against in the middle of the a 7-2 blowout on Nov. 29).
Hidden Stat: The Penguins haven’t won at Scotiabank Arena since November 2022. They’ve also gone 0-3-1 in their last four matchups with the Leafs.
Getting to know the Maple Leafs
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Max Domi
Matias Macelli – John Tavares – William Nylander
Nicholas Robertson – Nicolas Roy – Bobby McMann
Dakota Joshua – Scott Laughton – Steven Lorentz
DEFENSEMEN
Morgan Rielly / Philippe Myers
Jake McCabe / Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit / Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goalies: Dennis Hildeby, Joseph Woll
Potential scratches: Henry Thrun, Calle Jarnkrok, Easton Cowan, Dakota Joshua
Injured Reserve: Anthony Stolarz, Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo, Dakota Mermis
Turning point in Toronto
The Leafs are coming into this game under about as much pressure as possible to turn things around. The team is coming off a three-game road trip during which they were outscored by a combined 14-4, and they’ve slipped all the way behind the Buffalo Sabres to fall to the bottom of the Atlantic.
William Nylander, who told reporters after Sunday’s loss he felt the Leafs’ “confidence is low,” was asked if he’d ever been through a stretch like this before.
“Like, with losing? I don’t know if I’ve felt like this, before,” Nylander answered. “If I’ve had a stretch like this, I’m not sure. I don’t feel like I’ve had that in the NHL, at least.”
That’s not the only postgame interview that recently raised some concerns in the Leafs locker room. Auston Matthews has said he believes his team is fine mentally, while of his teammates have raised the Leafs’ mentality as a concern.
These answers came two days after Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Leafs are going to “be forced into existential questions” unless they turn their season around.
Changes have already started. The Leafs announced Monday night the dismissal of assistant coach Marc Savard, who was in charge of managing a power play that currently ranks last in the NHL at a 13.3 percent success rate.
Season stats
via hockeydb
Auston Matthews is on pace to finish this season with 32 goals. That would be the lowest single-season total of his career, and it’s an abrupt decline from a player who led the entire NHL in even-strength scoring through the first nine seasons of his career.
The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn and James Mirtle recently floated a few ideas as to what’s going on with Matthews. They include the Leafs’ overall struggles with possession, head coach Craig Berube’s decision to give Matthews a tougher defensive workload and the absence from his line of Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner.
Matthews isn’t the only one struggling to find the back of the net recently. The Leafs’ core of him, Nylander and John Tavares, alongside Matthew Knies and the now healthy scratch candidate Max Domi, have combined for a single goal during the Leafs’ last three games.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha – Rickard Rakell – Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty – Ben Kindel – Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar – Kevin Hayes – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Brett Kulak / Kris Letang
Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Danton Heinen, Ryan Graves, Connor Clifton
IR: Blake Lizotte, Evgeni Malkin, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones
- Sidney Crosby, the Penguins’ all-time leader in points, has points in each of his last six games against the Leafs (2-7—9 over that stretch, per the Penguins).
- The Pens have a few players who could hit games played milestones tonight, depending on if Stuart Skinner (199 career games) or Connor Clifton (399 career games) are in the lineup. Brett Kulak is meanwhile preparing to play in his 300th straight game, which currently marks the ninth-longest Ironman streak in the NHL.
- Yesterday was a travel day for the Pens. Injury and line updates could be expected this morning.
