Jones makes 38 saves, Maple Leafs shut out Penguins

Martin Jones made 38 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-0 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

“It was a pretty impressive game, top to bottom, start to finish,” Jones said. “That’s an effort we can definitely build off of. Lot of positives out of tonight.

“We were just solid honestly. I wasn’t asked to do anything too crazy out there, just play solid, make the saves I was supposed to make and the guys were really good in front of the net. Our penalty kill was really good when we needed it, we were just really solid.”

Jones was making his second start with the Maple Leafs this season. He is 2-1-1 with a 3.37 goals-against average and .870 save percentage in five games with Toronto of the American Hockey League.

Max Domi had a goal and two assists, Tyler Bertuzzi had three assists, and Matthew Knies, William Nylander and Mitchell Marner each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (16-6-6), who extended their point streak to nine games (6-0-3).

The Maple Leafs were without center Auston Matthews and defenseman TJ Brodie, each because of an illness.

“We’ve played without Auston over the years at different times and the group has reacted well to that,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Certainly thrilled with how guys stepped up here today throughout the lineup. Good energy and good start to the game. Knies got us going and the guys never looked back from there.”

Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on 14 shots for the Penguins (13-13-3), who had won two in a row. Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves in relief.

“We just didn’t play very well,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I’ll certainly dissect it. I’m not sure quite yet how I’ll respond to it. It’s a humbling experience when we didn’t perform to our expectations, and it’s disappointing. We’re all in this together. We’ve got to figure this out.”

Knies, who had missed the past two games because of an illness, put Toronto up 1-0 at 1:57 of the first period when he took a pass from Domi in the neutral zone, cut around Ryan Graves and lifted a backhand over Jarry’s glove at the top of the crease.

Marner made it 2-0 at 10:15 when he took a pass from Nicholas Robertson and shot high glove from the slot.

Bobby McMann stretched it to 3-0 at 18:25 with a wrist shot from the slot after taking a pass from Bertuzzi. It was his first NHL goal in his 17th game.

“I just wanted that puck in the slot,” McMann said. “I knew I had some time there. Bertuzzi made a nice play and then I saw it hit the mesh. A bit of relief came over me and then just more excitement and emotion I think.”

The Maple Leafs went up 4-0 at 2:28 of the second period when Domi skated through the slot, around Jarry and put it into the net past an outstretched blocker.

“You can’t chase the game against them,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “You give them room and you open up, you’re going to pay. I thought we got behind there and tried to force things to get back in it and that’s what happens.”

John Tavares made it 5-0 at 4:25 on the power play when Nylander’s shot hit him in front of the net and he backhanded in a loose puck at the top of the crease.

Noah Gregor’s power-play goal pushed it to 6-0 at 14:04 with a wrist shot from the slot.

“It’s a long year,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “You play 82 games and you are not going to feel very good all of those nights, and when you don’t, you’ve got to find a way to bring something. We can’t just be satisfied with being out there and being in the right spot. You’ve still got to contribute whether that’s with the puck or without the puck, and today we didn’t do that consistently throughout the lineup. It started right away. It was a tough night for us obviously and we were kind of deflated halfway through the game.”

Nylander made it 7-0 at 14:19 of the third period on a 2-on-1 when he tapped in a cross-crease pass from Bertuzzi.

“I think it just speaks volumes to the depth of our group and the character as well,” Domi said. “Big picture, we’re trying to get working towards something when the playoffs come around and everyone can step up on any given night. We’ll need four lines to achieve our goal, so it was a good opportunity for a lot of guys tonight and we made the most of it.”