Bryan Rust had two goals and an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Wednesday night. Blake Lizotte scored after missing five games with a concussion, while Kevin Hayes had a power-play goal and Rickard Rakell also scored for Pittsburgh.

Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Aatu Raty, and Pius Suter scored for the Canucks (11-7-3), who had won two in a row and eight straight on the road including 2-0 at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Arturs Silovs made 18 saves.

A day after defeating the Boston Bruins, the Vancouver Canucks (11-6-3) are back in action on Wednesday as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (7-12-4). This is the second time these two teams have met this season,

Toronto has a star-studded group of forwards led by Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Matt Knies. With Tavares and Marner in their contract years, Toronto could realistically add Sidney Crosby’s contract and bid farewell to one of the two (likely Tavares).

Hayes thinks that the Leafs should try to trade for none other than Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. While far-fetched, Hayes argued that Crosby could be the player to push Toronto to Stanley Cup contention for the next three seasons, especially given their current injury woes up front.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got absolutely wrecked this season. The Penguins are now 7-12-4 on the season and are a league worst -34 in goal differential. They simply can’t keep the puck out of their net and they’re not skilled enough to out-score their defensive issues.