The Leafs turned the tables at the start of the second. They had the Penguins hemmed in their zone until Matthew Knies tied the score 5:36 into the period.

Prior to that goal, Jeff Carter and the fourth line got stuck on the ice for nearly two minutes of ice time. They got a quick breather when they iced the puck, but Carter lost a faceoff and then was unable to tie up Knies in front of Nedeljkovic. That was one of a bunch of battles the Penguins lost during that poor stretch.

Nedeljkovic, making his ninth start in a row, came up large later in that period. Twice he stopped Leafs star Mitch Marner on breakaways, one shorthanded.

The two teams were tied going into the final frame, in part because Pittsburgh were 0 for 5 on the power play Monday night. Bryan Rust got another good look on their fifth one but Rust couldn’t tuck the puck past a sprawling Samsonov.

Ice chips

• Sidney Crosby took a beating in the second period. Jake McCabe knocked him into the Toronto net. Crosby got up slowly and tried not to put weight on his right leg as he skated off. Next shift, he got hit in the face with the puck — maybe a stick, too. On the shift after that, he accidentally got run over by Matthews.

• Kris Letang for the second time in a week did not participate in a morning skate due to what coach Mike Sullivan described as “maintenance.” The defenseman was in the lineup Monday but could be playing through an undisclosed injury.

• Ryan Shea also missed the skate due to an immigration issue that had him stranded at the Canadian border outside Buffalo. The blue-liner was able to get that resolved and navigated the solar eclipse to make it to Toronto in time for the game. Shea resumed his spot on the third pair next to rookie Jack St. Ivany.

• The Penguins again scratched Sam Poulin and John Ludvig. They were also still without Ryan Graves, who has now missed six games with a concussion.

• Noel Acciari, placed on injured reserve March 26, joined the team on this trip and partook in an individual workout after their morning skate. The center is not eligible to return during the regular season but he can suit up for the playoffs.

• Crosby was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week for this past week. He had five goals and an assist while leading the Penguins to four straight wins.

Stat n’at

5– power-play goals for the Penguins in their last 18 games, going 5 for 50.

Coming up

The Penguins have a scheduled off day Tuesday and will practice Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s big game against the Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.

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