Penguins’ defense breaks down as Maple Leafs roll to 7-3 victory

December 21, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nik Antropov had a goal and two assists and six other Toronto players scored in the Maple Leafs’ 7-3 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at Mellon Arena.

Pavel Kubina and Alexei Ponikarovsky each had a goal and an assist, Jonas Frogren scored his first NHL goal and Tomas Kaberle had three assists as the Maple Leafs netted a season-best seven goals.

Dominic Moore, Jeremy Williams and Niklas Hagman also scored for Toronto, which won for the fourth time in five games.

Petr Sykora scored twice and Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which allowed a season high for goals and lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Toronto got two goals from players in action for the first time after injuries (Frogren, Hagman) and another from Williams, in his fifth game of the season.

Moore opened the scoring during a power play 7:45 into the game with a tap-in off the rebound of Pavel Kubina’s shot.

That was the first of four goals scored in a span of 5:11.

Malkin briefly tied it two minutes later by swooping in from the left side and cutting across goalie Vesa Toskala for his 15th goal and NHL-best 54th point.

Williams gave Toronto the lead for good 74 seconds later, and defenseman Frogren scored 1:53 after that to make it 3-1.

Williams has four goals in five games since being recalled from the AHL on Dec. 7. Frogren played his first game since Nov. 22, after sitting out with an elbow injury.

Hagman hadn’t played in four games after sustaining a concussion Dec. 6 against Washington, but he scored his ninth goal with 11:29 to play in the second after a giveaway by Malkin.