<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to come away from their back-to-back with any points, dropping their second game in as many nights by a score of 5-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.</p>
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<p>The score doesn&#8217;t quite reflect the effort, with two of those Pittsburgh goals coming in the form of empty netters. The goals that do reflect the game, however, are the first and third ones, which came with the Leafs on the penalty kill. That&#8217;s not a knock on the Maple Leafs&#8217; penalty-killing unit, but more so their discipline. The team set themselves back on more than one occasion tonight, and even if they only allowed two goals while shorthanded, it&#8217;s not about the goals. Lots of the penalties came in precious moments that probably didn&#8217;t seem so precious in the moment but could have been used to score a tying goal or a go-ahead goal.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alex Nylander to the box </p>
<p>holding is the call <a href="https://t.co/uE2e0eXlmD">pic.twitter.com/uE2e0eXlmD</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Omar (@TicTacTOmar) <a href="https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1865582520118423860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>One of these moments came with six minutes left in the game in the form of an Alex Nylander hold. The Penguins didn&#8217;t score on the power play, but those are two minutes in the most crucial part of the game that the Leafs had to pivot and think about defending instead of putting the puck in the net. I&#8217;m not singling out Nylander for the penalty issue because he wasn&#8217;t the only Leaf to do something like that tonight, but it was the exact type of careless call that took away from any possible momentum they could have built.</p>
<p>Joseph Woll, although he made some crucial saves, had one of his weaker starts of the season. The Penguins&#8217; one even strength goal that was scored on a goalie was the second, coming in the form of a five-hole slide on a rebound off the boards from a Sidney Crosby shot. Having Chris Tanev parked in front of him probably didn&#8217;t help his sight, but it&#8217;s one of those shots that needs to be stopped when your team has dominated all period.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bryan Rust puts the Penguins ahead <a href="https://t.co/aMWQeAqVMZ">pic.twitter.com/aMWQeAqVMZ</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Omar (@TicTacTOmar) <a href="https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1865557158999331236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The Maple Leafs will be back in action on Tuesday and look to get back in the win column against the New Jersey Devils.</p>


The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to come away from their back-to-back with any points, dropping their second game in as many nights by a score of 5-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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The score doesn't quite reflect the effort, with two of those Pittsburgh goals coming in the form of empty netters. The goals that do reflect the game, however, are the first and third ones, which came with the Leafs on the penalty kill. That's not a knock on the Maple Leafs' penalty-killing unit, but more so their discipline. The team set themselves back on more than one occasion tonight, and even if they only allowed two goals while shorthanded, it's not about the goals. Lots of the penalties came in precious moments that probably didn't seem so precious in the moment but could have been used to score a tying goal or a go-ahead goal.

https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1865582520118423860

One of these moments came with six minutes left in the game in the form of an Alex Nylander hold. The Penguins didn't score on the power play, but those are two minutes in the most crucial part of the game that the Leafs had to pivot and think about defending instead of putting the puck in the net. I'm not singling out Nylander for the penalty issue because he wasn't the only Leaf to do something like that tonight, but it was the exact type of careless call that took away from any possible momentum they could have built.

Joseph Woll, although he made some crucial saves, had one of his weaker starts of the season. The Penguins' one even strength goal that was scored on a goalie was the second, coming in the form of a five-hole slide on a rebound off the boards from a Sidney Crosby shot. Having Chris Tanev parked in front of him probably didn't help his sight, but it's one of those shots that needs to be stopped when your team has dominated all period.

https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1865557158999331236

The Maple Leafs will be back in action on Tuesday and look to get back in the win column against the New Jersey Devils.

Knee Jerk Reaction: Careless penalties bite Maple Leafs in 5-2 loss to Penguins

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