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Leafs outdistance Penguins, 4-1

by Erin Nicks
The action continued Sunday night from the Oshawa rookie tournament, with the Toronto Maple Leafs easily beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1.

“That was a terrific effort on our part,” Toronto coach Dallas Eakins said. “The character of our players was phenomenal.”

The Penguins took the lead early, when Brandon DeFazio buried a quick wrister on a feed from Zach Sill. Toronto responded, as Josh Nicholls tapped in a rebound on the right side from Greg McKegg.

The Leafs began to press, with McKegg offering a saucer pass to Mitchell Heard, who sent one past Maxime Lagace from the half-wall.

Sam Carrick capped off the second period for Toronto with a forehand tap-in from Kyle Neuber, right in front of Legace’s crease.

The McKegg show continued in the third, with the winger slicing an easy path through the Pittsburgh defense, and dumping in a backhand past the Penguins’ netminder.

“(Greg) settled down a little bit,” Eakins said. “Maybe not as anxious tonight as last night. You can see the skill sets that he has. If you give him a look, he’ll take full advantage of it.”

Toronto capped off the game with a final goal, when Jamie Devane fed Tyler Brenner a pass in the slot, which trickled past Lagace.
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