PREVIEW: Penguins Game 3 vs. Maple Leafs; Blomqvist starts

TORONTO — This article originally appeared on PittsburghHockeyNOW.com.

One bad game, one good game. The Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-0) return to the scene of the crime where last December they suffered the worst of many of the season’s awful defeats by losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-0 in front of a Hockey Night in Canada national TV audience. They’ll face the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-0) Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.

The Penguins rallied from an abysmal drubbing by the New York Rangers on opening night by beating the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena Thursday. Anthony Beauvillier scored a pair of goals, Erik Karlsson scored a third-period power-play goal, and Kevin Hayes added the clinching goal later in the third period.

However, the story of the game, which will carry over into Saturday in Toronto, was Penguins rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist, who stopped 29 of 32 but made numerous difficult saves in critical moments to preserve the Penguins’ leads and the win.

Also, Bryan Rust will probably be back in the lineup, though he is officially a “game-time decision.” He made sure to play coy with the assembled media Saturday morning, stressing the word “if” he’s back.

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