PITTSBURGH - Jason Blake played a part in two of four power-play goals scored by Toronto in the second period and the Maple Leafs downed the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in an exhibition game Friday night.
Blake scored, then assisted on defenceman Ian White's goal to erase a 2-0 deficit. John Mitchell and Juraj Mikus also scored for Toronto (2-1).
Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin needed less than 20 minutes to pick up where he left off last season. Malkin, the NHL's leading scorer in the regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs, deflected a shot from Matt Cooke past James Reimer at 13:24 of the opening period. Cooke's goal at 6:43 opened the scoring for Pittsburgh (1-1).
Defenceman Brooks Orpik added a power-play goal for Pittsburgh in the third period.
The Penguins were without several regulars, including centres Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, and defenceman Sergei Gonchar. Toronto played minus its top four defencemen: free-agent acquisitions Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin, veteran Tomas Kaberle and 2008 first-round pick Luke Schenn.
Pittsburgh carried a 2-0 lead into the second period, but right wing Craig Adams was penalized five minutes for elbowing and the Maple Leafs capitalized.
Blake scored Toronto's first goal at 2:41, stuffing a puck past goalie Brent Johnson, who signed with the Penguins over the summer to back up starter Marc-Andre Fleury. Blake assisted on White's goal at 4:45. After a penalty to Pittsburgh defenceman Ben Lovejoy, Mitchell scored at 7:32 for a 3-2 Leafs lead. Mikus scored an unassisted power-play goal with 1:34 remaining in the period.
Maple Leafs centre Jason Allison, in camp on a tryout basis, assisted on the goals from Blake and Mitchell.
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