Bibeau Says No - Toronto Shuts Out Penguins in Rookie Tournament Finale

Toronto Maple Leafs conclude tournament with a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh. Photo credit: @MapleLeafs.

Antoine Bibeau - Toronto's 6th round pick in 2013 - stole the show, concluding the 2014 Rookie Tournament this afternoon in London, Ontario, with a 25-save shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. His most notable save of the afternoon came in the first period when he robbed Bryan Rust.

You can view this "highway robbery" of Rust courtesy the Toronto Maple Leafs here.

Brett Findlay and Parker Bowles tallied goals for the Maple Leafs, who finished the tournament with the same record as the Penguins - winning two of three games.

For the Penguins, Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry split duties in net. Murray stopped 12 of 14 in the first half of the contest, while Jarry came on in relief and stopped all 15 shots he faced. Murray is turning pro in the fall and will look to make the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) roster. Jarry should be returning to the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL).

The biggest story line from the tournament might be the play of Jean-Sebastien Dea, who tallied five points (two goals and three assists) in three games in this tournament. The Penguins brass sees Dea turning pro and heading to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to play in the AHL this season.

The biggest concern from this afternoon's 2-0 loss going forward is that of Anton Zlobin, who did not return after blocking a shot early in the 3rd period. From those in attendance, Zlobin was seen in obvious discomfort after blocking a shot in his first shift of the final frame. Zlobin left the ice with trainers and while they returned to the bench later, Zlobin did not.

Hopefully for both Zlobin and the Penguins, he was held out of the rest of the game as a precaution and it's nothing serious. Not that there's ever a good time to get hurt, but the days leading up to the start of training camp is probably the worst timing a hockey play can get.

Notable Scorers in Rookie Tournament for the Penguins: J-S Dea (2G-3A), Anton Zlobin (2G-1A),Tom Kuhnhackl (1G-2A), Brian Dumoulin (0G-3A) and Josh Archibald (2G-0A).

QUICK RECAP

A pretty even first period played between prospects of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play, with Pens forward Bryan Rust with the best chance of the period, getting robbed by a glove save from Leafs netminder Antoine Bibeau.

Shots 8-7 in favor of Toronto after the first period.

The Penguins got into a bit of penalty trouble in the middle frame, surrendering four straight power plays in the first half of the period and two goals. First, Brett Findlay finished off a weird bounce off Matt Murray on a shot from the point 5:11 into the 2nd. Then, with the Leafs on one of their power plays, Conor Brown set up Parker Bowles on a power play goal that Murray had no chance on to put the Leafs up 2-0 at the 9:14 mark of the period.

The Penguins failed to score on a power play later in the 2nd, and failed on another man advantage late in the third. The Pens went 0-for-4 on the power play in the game and couldn't solve Bibeau.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Tristan Jarry was sharp and he needed to be, with the Penguins down 2-0 when he entered the game halfway through the second period. He was tested right away, making four saves in the 2nd before stopping all the shots he faced in 29:56 of work.

Adam Payerl was very active in the first period, swarming around the net with the puck. He had another strong game and showed he isn't afraid to drop the gloves either, taking on Fraser in a fight midway through the third period.

Bryan Rust was arguably the best Penguins forward this afternoon, creating offense on a regular basis and nearly scoring on two or three occasions.

Highlights



ROSTER NOTES

Matt Murray got the start in net this afternoon, his second of the tournament after stopping 22/25 in the Pens' opening game against Ottawa. Murray stopped 12 of 14 in 31:04 of work before Tristan Jarry entered the game around the halfway point. Jarry stopped all 15 shots he faced today.

The Pens' captain at the rookie tournament - Brian Dumoulin - was given the afternoon off. Reid McNeill donned the captain's 'C' today against Toronto. A nice gesture by the Pens to give the London, Ontario native the 'C' in his hometown arena this afternoon. Dominik Uher and Adam Payerl continued to wear the "A's"

Patrick McGrath was again the healthy scratch at forward, with Kasperi Kapanen and Jaden Lindo not participating in the rookie tournament recovering from injuries.

Lines

Zlobin - Dea - Sheary
Wilson - Sundqvist - Rust
Uher - Lalancette - Payerl
Kuhnhackl - Marcantuoni - Archibald

Harrington - Ruopp
McNeill - Boak
D'Agostino - Seymour

Murray - Jarry

PP1: Zlobin-Dea-Sheary
PP2:Archibald-Sundqvist-Rust