Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi and Toronto Maple Leafs center Mark Arcobello chase a loose puck during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

By Dave Molinari/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Phil Kessel didn’t get a point against his old team tonight at Consol Energy Center.
Probably didn’t bother him much, though, because the Penguins got two.
They defeated Toronto, 2-1, to raise their record to 2-3. It was Kessel’s first game against the Maple Leafs since they traded him to the Penguins during the offseason, but he had downplayed any desire for revenge.
“It’s a different game,” Kessel said. “But it’s one of 82.”
Kessel’s best scoring chance came early in the second period, when he was alone in front of the Toronto net and took a feed from Sidney Crosby.Kessel appeared to have Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier frozen with a fake, but his backhander went just wide of the left post.
Crosby, in part because of teammates’ failure to capitalize on some stellar set-ups, does not have a point in five games this season, matching the longest dry spell of his career. Tack on a point-less outing in his final regular-season game in 2014-15, and it becomes his worst slump in the NHL.
The Penguins’ power play also has entered uncharted territory for futility. It went 0-for-5 and is 0-for-17 for the season.It has failed to produce a goal in the first five games for the first time in franchise history.Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, appearing in his 600th NHL game, had another stellar performance, finishing with 26 saves.
Penguins coach Mike Johnston made a couple of personnel changes, returning winger Sergei Plotnikov and defenseman Rob Scuderi to the lineup and sitting defenseman Adam Clendening and winger Bobby Farnham.
The Penguins’ offense, on paper, is among the NHL’s most menacing, but produced as many as two goals only twice during its first four games.
In the opening period against Toronto, however, they put two pucks behind Bernier in a span of 39 seconds.Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring at 5:49, just 12 seconds after he finished serving an interference minor.
He carried the puck down the right-wing boards before snapping a shot past Bernier and inside the far post from below the right dot for his second of the season.The goal, which gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead against the Maple Leafs for the seventh game in a row, was unassisted.
The crowd was still celebrating Malkin’s goal _ his 15th in 28 career games against Toronto _ when Olli Maatta made it 2-0 at 6:28 by scoring from above the left hash. Plotnikov and Scuderi received assists on the goal, Maatta’s first. Plotnikov’s assist was his first point in four NHL games.
The Maple Leafs, coming off a 6-3 victory in Columbus 24 hours earlier, did not wilt, however, and Jake Gardiner got them within a goal at 13:09, as he hammered a slap shot past Fleury from high on the left side of the slot.
Kevin Porter had a chance to pad the Penguins’ lead while they were shorthanded in the waning seconds of the period, but missed the net after being set up alone in front by Malkin.
Toronto finished the first with a 13-8 edge in shots, although the Penguins finished the game with a 33-27 advantage.
The Penguins’ five-game home stand, the longest of the season, will continue when Florida visits tomorrow.