The Pittsburgh Penguins face the Toronto Maple Leafs with both teams hoping to improve from rocky starts to the season. The Penguins have a 5-6-2 record while the Maple Leafs have a 7-4-3 record and are hoping to rebound from a rough overtime loss. The Penguins are hoping to climb out of the bottom of the Metropolitan Division while the Maple Leafs hope to continue to make up ground in the Atlantic Division and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The Penguins are off to a rough start to the season with their offense struggling and scoring only 3.54 goals per game. Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel have scored 13 goals and 14 assists to lead the top line but the rest of the offense has also stepped up. Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, and Jason Zucker have scored 12 goals and 18 assists while defensemen Kris Letang and Jeff Petry have added two goals and 11 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has been great but the defense has let the Penguins down, allowing 3.46 goals per game. Marcus Pettersson and Jan Rutta have combined for 1.6 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. In addition, goaltender Tristan Jarry has struggled in the net with a .903 save percentage and a 3.38 goals-against average on 279 shots.