Crosby/TavaresPenguins centre Sidney Crosby has yet to score — he has just four assists through five games — but he has a history of lighting up Toronto, with 26 goals in 40 career games against the Leafs. John Tavares has 10 goals in 43 career games against the Penguins, but has a much better support group with the Leafs than he did with the Islanders. NEED TO KNOWCarl Hagelin, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel have been the Penguins’ best line in the early going, with Malkin and Kessel factoring in on 47.1 per cent of the team’s goals ... Penguins defenceman Justin Schultz is out four months with a broken left leg ... Pittsburgh has issues in net, having allowed 3.8 goals a game while scoring just 3.4 a game ... Pittsburgh’s penalty kill is fourth in the league with a 92.3 per cent kill rate. And it will need to be good against Toronto’s top-rated power play (47.4 per cent). UP NEXTSaturday vs. St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Source: thestar October 17, 2018 19:52 UTC