It’s time to finally (barbe)cue up this game – the Leafs’ first date with the Penguins since sending them their top scorer over the summer in an attempt to clean things up for the Babcock “culture change” we’re starting to see. For Toronto, it’ll be the second half of a back-to-back, so usually the chances of getting grilled by Sid the Kid and company might be high, but the Penguins haven’t exactly been off to a sizzling start themselves. It’ll be no picnic for either team.

After nabbing their first win of the season last night in Columbus, the Leafs finally have some points on the board and will be looking to get into the mix with the middle of the conference. There’s no time to let last night’s victory simmer. 

It’s super early, of course, but a win tonight would move them to .500 (well, sorta) and put them in the playoff picture. Even with only a handful of games into the season, it’s tough to play ketchup after a rocky road to start, and this team has deserved a little better than their current record. They certainly haven’t been soft-serving up victories to opposing teams. 

Games against Pittsburgh always seem to be entertaining when the Leafs are involved, even when they’ve been far apart in the standings over the years. The Pens have been slow as cold high-fructose corn syrup here to start, but obviously the Leafs will still have a lot on their plates. 

The big, big, big (really big) story going into this one is obviously this being the first matchup against Kessel, and it’ll be curious to see how the Leafs go after him. Pittsburgh, like we mentioned, is off to a tough start with only a handful of goals-scored, and Phil himself has only buried the biscuit once and sauced a single apple (candied, of course). 

More concerning for the Penguins is that Sidney Crosby has been without a point so far this season, and they really need to get him going. Fortunately for them, he always plays the Leafs extremely tough and almost tends to have a little more mustard on his shot when he goes up against the blue and white. I’m not sure if matching up against the Leafs presents more of a pressure-cooker atmosphere, but he always tends to toast them. He relishes the opportunity. 

Mayonnaise.