LEAFS NOTES: 'Still a work in progress' but Leafs find their legs and hands in time against Pens

Though the Maple Leafs didn’t start out with their best skate forward on Saturday night, they looked  much better by the final horn and won another in a string of kickoff games in the Core Four era at Scotiabank Arena, 4-2 over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Our legs weren’t there and our hands weren’t there, just little puck plays” coach Craig Berube assessed. “Pittsburgh comes hard, with a lot of pressure. We were under siege, but our structure didn’t break, we held our ground and (Anthony Stolarz) made some saves.

“It’s still a work in progress for sure. I thought the guys really bought into training camp what we were trying to do and it has carried over into games. But we have to keep improving.”

They’ll have until Wednesday to chip away at issues such as a barren power play.

Stolarz made 21 saves, stopping three by Sidney Crosby, one by Malkin that had late tying goal written all over it. It was Stolarz’s first win in a Leafs sweater, giving credit to his shot-blocking defencemen, Chris Tanev and Morgan Rielly, recording three each of Toronto’s 17 in total.

“Awfully exciting, especially in the opener in front of this crowd,” said Stolarz, who absorbed a hard collision with Malkin in the final period.

Within sight of fans at fine-dining tables and a wine cellar, the Leafs began taking a much more scenic route to the ice.

The new MNP Pass Social Club, with a corresponding platinum seat behind the players benches, was operational Saturday with ‘Smartglass’ allowing about 200 members to pay extra to eat, drink and see the Leafs, the visiting team (plus the Raptors and their NBA opponent) as they exit the dressing room to the ice and court. The 7,350 square foot tunnel area was part of the $350 million renovations to Scotiabank Arena.

“That’s cool,” said forward Max Domi before the game. “But our room is the exact same and the ice is the same. I don’t think those things matter to us.”

Saturday was the official homecoming for East York’s Tanev.

“We’ve had a few (exhibitions) under our belt to get to know the group,” the defenceman said pre-game. “It will be fun to get in there for my first home opener. No matter what team you’re on (he has also played in home openers with Vancouver and Calgary), it’s always bumping and it’s sold-out.”

Tanev says he settled his family and friends’ ticket requests.

“All good, nothing crazy,” he said.

Malkin acknowledged career point No. 1,300 on Rickard Rakell’s goal, the 37th player in NHL history to reach that milestone, but he’s more concerned that his team’s record is now 1-2.

“When you lose, you feel different,” Malkin said. “I’m not looking to my points, I want my team to win. We have a great start tonight, we lost momentum. We score the second goal (making it 3-2), have a good chance 6-on-5. But we gave them the (Mitch) Marner goal. (When) we fix those problems, we’ll be better.”

Malkin, who wears No. 71, now has 71 points against the Leafs in 47 career games, Crosby 69 in 54.

Saturday was also just the 90th time in regulation the past 525 games in which Malkin and Crosby had a point in the same game that Pittsburgh lost (388-90-47).

Former Leaf Michael Bunting is better adjusted to Pittsburgh after this training camp, having been acquired from Carolina by old Toronto GM Kyle Dubas at last year’s trade deadline. He was part of the package for Jake Guentzel, The Pens missed the playoffs, Carolina won just one round.

Naturally, the scrappy Scarborough winger Bunting is in awe of watching Crosby close-up.

“He’s got so much going on (team captain, top scorer, prep for the 4 Nations Face-off, charity work and commercials),” Bunting said. “But he’s so humble. And he has time to talk (1-on-1 to help with Bunting’s adjustment).”

Bunting is doing well in that department says head coach Mike Sullivan.

“The more time you get to spend with players, the better you get to know them, personally off the ice and on ice with their habits,” Sullivan said before the game. “You get a better idea of what might make them tick. Bunts has been a really good player for us. He seems to have fit into our lineup really well. He’s played a lot with Malkin.

“He drags people into the fight, so to speak, and that’s an asset in this game that has really helped our team.”

Bunting had a back-and-forth through much of the game with Toronto defenceman Simon Benoit and it led to a Toronto penalty.

Sullivan paid a little extra attention to Auston Matthews on Saturday.

As he’s also coach of Team USA for the 4 Nations tournament, the Leafs captain is one of the Americans’ pre-determined selections for next February’s event.

“Auston and I, we’ve had conversations about that already,” Sullivan said. “I try to be respectful of (players’) time and space. But, certainly, we will continue to have conversations at opportune times.”

Down the road on the farm, the Marlies were winners on Saturday in their season opener, a rare visit from the San Diego Gulls.

Jacob Quillan, Roni Hirvonen and defenceman Marshall Rifai all scored early, but they needed a late third-period strike from forward Nick Abruzzese in a 4-3 final.

Rifai, the new alternate captain to Logan Shaw, was a plus-3 in the game while, in net, Matt Murray was given some work with Dennis Hildeby up with the Leafs, making 18 saves. The teams meet again Sunday, 4 p.m., at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

This year’s No. 1 Leafs draft pick, Ben Danford, who missed rookie camp and some of the main camp with a concussion, has played three games for the Oshawa Generals with one assist as of Saturday.

“I didn’t really get the full experience, but it was still cool,” Danford told Terry Johnston of CKDO Radio this week. “I got to meet all the players. After the draft, I got to go golfing with (former Generals captain) John Tavares and went up to his cottage. Just a high-character person, very welcoming. He tried to show me the ropes, someone I can look up to in terms of preparation.”

The new coaching staff, including Berube, looked stoically all-business during their opening-night introductions, Berube not acknowledging the loud applause when his turn came. Behind-the-scenes video analysts Jordan Bean and Sam Kim, who have saved the day a few times over the years with their sharp eyes, seemed to enjoy their moment in the spotlight … Saturday was just the eighth game Tavares has missed since 2021-22 and the Leafs have won all of them in his absence … The pre-game ceremony marked another appearance by Toronto’s 48th Highlanders Pipe band, which has played at every home opener since 1931 …  Berube wasn’t much of a sentimentalist about keeping the puck from his first win in New Jersey on Thursday night. Rookie goalie Hildeby got it for his first NHL win and Berube was fine with that … Some SBA renovations are continuing into the regular season, including eventual ‘frictionless’ security gates to speed up building entry.