Noel Acciari discusses how the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to protect a one-goal lead in the third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dating back a number of years now, the Pittsburgh Penguins have struggled to find solid offense from their bottom six forward group. Lack of depth scoring was a big reason the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006 last year and this year didn’t start too well. Over the last few games, the depth has started to find the net and create a little more offense, and things were really capped off against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Penguins’ fourth line stepped up in a huge way against one of the league’s most offensively gifted teams and former Leaf Noel Acciari led that charge. With a steal and perfectly placed shot, Acciari scored his second goal in three games. “It was a fortunate turnover,” Acciari said. “I got a stick on it and was able to pull it out of the corner and Matty (Matt Nieto) got a good moving screen for me and I was able to put it in.” Acciari didn’t have much space to work with over Joseph Woll’s shoulder, but he picked the corner at perfect time to tie the game at two. Head coach Mike Sullivan stated this was the best game from Acciari as a member of the Penguins and the fourth line wasn’t done with just the game-tying goal. It was an offensive zone face off win from Jeff Carter that led to the Penguins taking the lead late in the second frame. Carter was the draw cleanly to Kris Letang who moved the puck to Erik Karlsson who bombed home the shot. Acciari said he didn’t tip Karlsson’s shot, but he did have a plan on the play. “I just made sure I was going to take his eyes that time,” Acciari said on screening Woll. Carter was credited with his first point of the season on the play. “We relied on them a lot,” Sullivan said on the fourth line. [https://www.nhl.com/penguins/video/post-game-sullivan-11-25-23-6341776461112] “They got some tough matchups in the third period. They played against [Auston] Matthews’ line a fair amount… and they got the job done.” The Penguins have been looking for good games from their depth, especially as they still struggle to win with consistency, but this time around they came up huge. They created offense, stood tall defensively, and made the game tough for some of the best scorers in the league. Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins [http://insidethepenguins.com/]for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Penguins Get Back To .500 With Win Over Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-back-500-record-win-toronto-maple-leafs] Jansen Harkins Returns to Penguins Lineup Against Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/jansen-harkins-returns-pittsburgh-penguins-lineup-toronto-maple-leafs] Bryan Rust Once Again Absent from Penguins Lineup [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/bryan-rust-again-absent-pittsburgh-penguins-lineup] Penguins President Faces Maple Leafs for Fist Time [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-kyle-dubas-faces-toronto-maple-leafs-first-time] Penguins Need Second Line to Find New Level [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/pittsburgh-penguins-second-line-new-level] * undefined * undefined
