More: On the Penguins stunning comeback
The Pittsburgh Penguins staged another incredible and dramatic comeback on Tuesday night, fighting back from a third period three-goal deficit to tie it with less than seven seconds remaining. It took the Pens awhile to get into this game, and it appeared Toronto had sealed the win in the third period but more of the pre-All-Star break magic came through over the final five minutes.
Toronto jumped out to a 4-1 lead on two quick strikes. On the power play, Tyler Bozak wound up on the right wing and fired a rocket to beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his eighth goal of the season. Just 19 seconds later, Mikhail Grabovski would continue to wreak havoc for the Leafs. With the Pens trying to clear the zone, he poked the puck away and took the turnover down the right wing, crossing it to a wide open Clarke MacArthuer who one-timed it into the back of an open net. Grabovski finished with three points and was a force for Toronto all night
Pittsburgh would start their comeback charge and cut into the lead when Steve Sullivan fired a slap shot past Jonas Gustavsson. The Leafs turned it over and their defense was caught off balance as Sullivan controlled the puck, entered the zone and simply rocketed one high past Gustavsson.
Joe Vitale cut it to a one-goal game with less than five minutes remaining. Vitale was there to scoop up the rebound off a bad angle shot from Pascal Dupuis, and instantly gave the Pens some momentum. But it would take another incredible last minute goal to keep the streak alive. The best player on the planet right now, Evgeni Malkin, was there yet again and scored his 27th of the year to even it with less than seven seconds remaining. Malkin simply got in the way at the right time, deflecting a shot from James Neal into the back of the net as time wound down.
After a scoreless overtime, Malkin was there to be the difference-maker again in the shootout. Malkin beat Gustavsson and Fleury denied all three Toronto shots for the Pens' eighth straight win.
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