Leafs edge weary Penguins

Associated Press

TORONTO

There is an undeniable swagger forming around the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Phil Kessel scored his league-leading 10th goal midway through the third period to lift the Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

The Leafs (7-2-1) have continued their strong start as Jonas Gustavsson picked up wins in consecutive appearances for the first time since March 2010.

Mikhail Grabovski, Tim Connolly and Clarke MacArthur scored for Toronto.

Dion Phaneuf has been in the middle of it all and put in a performance on Saturday that was emblematic of his season so far — he had two assists, hammered Penguins star Evgeni Malkin with a big bodycheck and logged a team-high 27:23 in ice time.

There was a celebratory tone to the occasion thanks to Kessel beating Brent Johnson at 10:08 of the third period with the game-winner. The goal came after Connolly found his linemate on the rush and Kessel flashed his quick release.

“You could see that whole thing develop,” Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. “Phil’s eyes were as big as saucers when he saw the gap. Timmy didn’t even hesitate — he fired it right over with a perfect pass.”

Matt Cooke, Chris Kunitz and Malkin scored for the weary Penguins (8-3-2), who were playing for the 13th time in 26 days. The Penguins were also without several stars as Jordan Staal is sidelined with a lower-body injury, Sidney Crosby continues to recover from a concussion and starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury sat out.

“We weren’t able to play 60 minutes the way we should,” Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang said. “That’s why we didn’t get a win tonight.”

MacArthur’s second goal of the season put Toronto ahead 3-2 at 3:08 of the third period before Malkin tied it with a one-timer during a 5-on-3 power play at 7:59.