Penguins lose 4-3 to Toronto

The Penguins faced a very talented Toronto team tonight, losing 4-3 in a back and forth game.  Toronto opened the scoring, taking a 1-0 lead into the second period, as the Penguins gave up their first 5 on 4 goal of the season.  The Penguins tied the game when Matt Cooke hammered home a shot on a second opportunity off a tremendous effort by Asham who retrieved his own rebound in the corner and fed Cooke who was parked right in front of the net.  Asham and Lovejoy got the assist on Cooke's goal, his fourth of the season.   Toronto took the lead on a power play after a very cheap hooking call on Malkin, their second goal with a 5 on 4 advantage, both coming with Geno in the sin bin.  Not to worry, the Penguins answered shortly thereafter with a power play goal of their own from Chris Kunitz, also right parked right in front of the net.  The goal by Kunitz, his fourth, and assisted by Malkin and Letang tied the game at 2-2.  Kunitz finished the game with a goal, 5 shots, and 4 hits, and he had the screen that allowed for Malkin's power play goal late in the period.  Another solid game from the hedgehog!  Letang picked up his 10th point of the season on Kunitz's goal.  Toronto again took the lead 3-2.  Then, on a 5 on 3 power play, Malkin took a feed from Letang and Neal, and fired a rocket past Gustaffson to tie the game again for Pittsburgh.  It was Malkin's second goal of the year, and second point of the game, while Letang and Neal's assist left them tied for the team scoring lead with 11 points.  Again, Toronto answered the bell, getting the game winner from Phil Kessel within minutes of the Malkin goal to take the lead, which they would hold this time to win the game.  The goal gave Kessel the lead over Neal in the goal scoring race.  The Penguins did not play a bad game tonight.  They played a very good Toronto team, and answered the bell for the most part, despite being very shorthanded again.  I was extremely impressed again tonight with Kunitz and Neal, both of whom were in front of the net, throwing checks, and Neal's back check to break up a 2 on 1 in the second period was an example of the work ethic he brings to the table.  Mark Letestu and Dustin Jeffrey, two of the most productive call ups from last season remain invisible.  Jeffrey may still be working his way back from his knee injury, but Letestu has been bad since 3/4 of the way through last season.  With Eric Tangradi scoring at a point per game pace in WBS, I wonder if it could make sense to give the Big Dog a look again.  This next week will give the Penguins their first break in the schedule to really practice, and hopefully, get some bodies back in the lineup.  We will not  see Michalek or Kennedy, but it would be GREAT to see Staal and Crosby both in the lineup again by the time the Penguins play the Sharks Thursday night.