PITTSBURGH (AP) — Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-2 on Saturday.
Ekman-Larsson extended his hitting streak to a career-best nine games, the second-longest by a defenseman in team history. He has three goals and seven assists in the streak.
Toronto won in regulation for the first time since November 5th. He improved to 3-6-2 in his last 11 games.
Auston Matthews, Nicholas Roy and Bobby McMann also had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Morgan Rielly had two assists and became the third guard in team history to record 100 multi-point games.
Toronto goalie Dennis Hildeby, making his first start since November 13, stopped 32 shots.
Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby scored his 641st career goal, passing Dave Andreychuk for 15th on the NHL list. He also recorded an assist and passed Mario Lemieux for the most home points in team history (941) and sole possession of the seventh most home points in league history.
Ben Kindel scored a power-play goal for Pittsburgh, which is 4-5-3 in its last 12 games after an 8-2-2 start.
Arturs Silov allowed four goals on 10 shots for Pittsburgh before being replaced by Tristan Jarry in the second period. Silov, who has not made back-to-back starts, has allowed eight goals in the last 20 shots he has faced.
Jarry made 10 saves for the Penguins.
Ekman-Larsson and Easton Cowan scored two of Toronto's first three shots to give the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead at one period.
McMann and Dakota Joshua scored goals in the first five minutes of the second period to help Toronto pull away. McMann carried Rielly's point shot behind Silows, and Joshua scored a quick turnaround shot from the top.
Next
Maple Leafs: Continue their six-game road trip to Florida on Tuesday.
Penguins: Begin a three-game road trip Monday at Philadelphia.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
