Murray shuts out Maple Leafs, ends Matthews' streak in return to Penguins

TORONTO-- Matt Murray made 38 saves for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

Murray played for the first time since sustaining a concussion in practice Oct. 8.
"I feel good; it's good to get a win," he said. "We should be really encouraged by the way we played. I thought we played really solid all the way through. That's a crazy dynamic team over there and we were able to hold them off pretty well, so I think that says a lot about how we played as a team."
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
The Maple Leafs (6-2-0) had a five-game winning streak end. Auston Matthews did not have a point, ending his streak of seven multipoint games to start the season.
"It's not often you see our team get no goals," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "I just thought they did a good job, there was no room. They kept us on the outside a bit, I liked their players, I thought their players played good."

Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and assisted on a goal by Kris Letang for the Penguins (3-1-2), who won once in their prior four games.
"We've got to be ready to play, there's such a fine line between winning and losing," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "Every team in the League is well-coached; every team in this league is good. There are no easy games in this league, and that's a discussion that we've had with our team in this early part of the season. We had to make sure we had the right mindset before the puck was dropped so that we were prepared to play the game the right way."
The Penguins went up 1-0 at 11:42 of the first period when Malkin's shot from the goal line on the power play was deflected by Maple Leafs defenseman Ron Hainsey past Frederik Andersen on the short side.

"I [didn't] see space or anybody open, and I see [the] defenseman jump to me," Malkin said. "Only chance was to try to beat [him] one-on-one, but that's a little bit dangerous. Coach told me before the game I need to shoot a little bit more, so I tried to shoot. I know it's hard for the goalie because he's not maybe too ready for my shot."
Malkin made it 2-0 at 17:53 of the third period, and Letang put the Penguins up 3-0 at 18:52 when each scored into an empty net.
"We played three periods against like Matthews and [John] Tavares; we did a great job in the [defensive] zone too," Malkin said. "We understand they're skilled guys and we played physical, we played smart, and I think we deserved to win."

They said it

"I think regardless of who we were playing against tonight, we wanted to hold on to the puck a little bit more. It's a lot more fun playing that way, and I think you can wear teams down playing that way too. That plays to our strengths, so our focus was just holding on to the puck and defending by playing in the offensive zone." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"They box out well, they protect the front of the net. Murray's a solid goaltender, he sees the puck well and he's obviously proven himself the last two or three years with what he's accomplished. They obviously have a good continuity with the way they play and the players they have and how they execute. It was a great challenge for us, but it's just a sour taste, and you don't execute and win some of those battles that you need to and find a way to get it done." -- Maple Leafs forward John Tavares

Need to know

Andersen made 36 saves. He was scratched with a knee injury Monday, a 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings. ... Murray missed one game and backed up Casey DeSmith in each of the past two. ... Malkin has 62 points (21 goals, 41 assists) in 36 games against the Maple Leafs. ... Matthews was the fifth player to start a season with a multipoint streak of at least seven games, after Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens of the Pittsburgh Penguins (1992-93), Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders (1984-85), and Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers (1983-84).

What's next

Penguins: At the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: Host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN1, FS-MW, NHL.TV)