Maple Leafs take advantage of Pittsburgh team minus an injured Lemieux
TORONTO – Bryan McCabe had a goal and an assist in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Aki Berg, Darcy Tucker and Robert Reichel also scored as the Maple Leafs took advantage of the Penguins playing without Mario Lemieux, who’s sidelined with a strained left hip muscle.
Owen Nolan had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have rebounded from Saturday’s 7-1 loss to Philadelphia with wins over Carolina and Pittsburgh. Toronto outshot Pittsburgh 17-4 in the first period, and 38-24 overall.
Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, the top overall pick in the draft, has impressed in his rookie season but allowed four goals on 38 shots by Toronto.
Ryan Malone had a short-handed goal for the Penguins, whose three-game unbeaten streak ended.
Berg’s slap shot from the blue line beat Fleury at 1:38 of the first, and Tucker put his own rebound past Fleury at 8:38 to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.
Pittsburgh’s Rico Fata got past Toronto defenseman Ken Klee and put a shot on Ed Belfour before collecting the rebound and passing the puck to Malone, who cut it to 2-1 at 10:25 of the second.
Fleury robbed Toronto’s Tomas Kaberle of a goal with a glove save in the second, but Reichel made it 3-1 when he put a rebound past Fleury at 2:03 of the third.
The game featured three fights after the Penguins fell behind 3-1. Toronto’s Bryan Marchment got into it with Pittsburgh’s Ramzi Abid, pulling the sweater over Abid’s head, and Toronto’s Wade Belak and Pittsburgh’s Steve McKenna fought at the same time as Toronto’s Nathan Perrott and Pittsburgh’s Dan Focht went at it.
McCabe’s shot from the blue line made it 4-1 at 12:17 of the third.
Fata scored at 18:27 of the third to complete the scoring.
NOTES: Lemieux left Saturday’s game against Boston after one period with the strained muscle in his left hip, an injury that’s bothered him for about 10 days. Despite scoring only one goal in 19 games dating to last season – the worst stretch of his career – Lemieux has a team-high nine points. … Belfour improved to 14-5-1 in his career against Pittsburgh. … Fleury made his fourth straight start.