TORONTO -- Goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin spent the regular-season opener against Toronto at the far end of the Penguins' bench, which turned out to be a lot like having a front-row seat for a 12-car pileup at Talladega.
And while Aubin probably would like to forget a lot of what he witnessed -- it was pretty gruesome for a couple of hours -- he did pick up insights about the Maple Leafs, whom the Penguins will face again 7:38 p.m. today at the Air Canada Centre.
"They're a fast team, and they don't get in trouble too often," Aubin said yesterday. "They play really smart and wait for mistakes."
The Maple Leafs didn't have to wait long during the opener. By the time their 6-0 victory was complete, the Penguins had been guilty of so many physical breakdowns and mental lapses that the game tape could be mistaken for a bloopers reel.
Understandably, the Penguins are hoping a lot of things will be different during the rematch. There's no doubt that at least a few will.
There will be, for example, a change of venue. The Penguins are on the road for the first time this season. And, because defenseman Josef Melichar has an injury to his left shoulder that he got during the Penguins' 6-0 victory against the New York Rangers Saturday, there will be at least one switch in the lineup.
Janne Laukkanen, who was a healthy scratch for the Rangers game, is the front-runner to take Melichar's spot, although Hans Jonsson, who also sat out the New York game, is available, too.
But the most significant difference tonight could be in the Penguins' approach to defending Toronto's No. 1 line of Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker and Alexander Mogilny. Those three were allowed to operate at will Thursday and responded by combining for four goals and seven assists.
"They really gave it to us pretty good," defenseman Ian Moran said.
Exactly what Coach Rick Kehoe has in mind for damage-control against that unit tonight isn't known. He did not attend yesterday's optional workout at Southpointe. But he has to be giving serious consideration to deploying a checking line against Sundin and his co-workers.
Whether it's the Dan LaCouture-Wayne Primeau-Ville Nieminen line or the Steve McKenna-Kent Manderville-Shean Donovan unit -- or even some hybrid of the two -- almost doesn't matter.
While it's impossible to project how much, if any, success a checking line can have at neutralizing Sundin, Mogilny and Tucker, odds are Toronto's top line won't be able to pile up points quite so effortlessly if a group is dedicated to containing them.
Primeau apparently wouldn't mind drawing that duty.
"If that's what they want us to do, that's great," he said. "Because that's definitely something we have to do, shut down their line to give ourselves a chance. Any line you put against them, if they're told to do it, they'll do a job against them."
One complication: Getting the line matchups Kehoe wants will be a lot tougher than it would have been four nights ago, because Maple Leafs Coach Pat Quinn gets the final personnel change at the Air Canada Centre.
No matter what strategy he settles on, or who is selected to execute those plans, the Penguins should have a couple of key objectives against the Sundin line: To crowd its members as much as possible, limiting the time and space they have to create plays, and to minimize the neutral-zone turnovers that Toronto's transition game turned into so many odd-man breaks Thursday.
"You don't want to give up too many odd-man rushes, especially with Sundin and Mogilny," Aubin said. "They have such skill for that kind of a situation. It's very dangerous to play them that way."
Actually, there's no safe way to face Sundin. He has had eight goals in his past 12 games against the Penguins, including two in the opener, and would be dangerous if he had a couple of parking meters on his wings.
"He's a great skater, and he's big and strong," Penguins center Mario Lemieux said. "He's one of the best players in the world, and he's been proving it since he got to Toronto. He's tough to knock off the puck. Just a great player."
And quite a leader, too, if the opener against the Penguins is any indication. There were times during the game when TV cameras actually caught him perspiring, even though he could have dissected the Penguins without breaking a sweat.
After his two-goal, two-assist game, Sundin told reporters that, "there was a lot of room for us out there and, down the road, I'm sure it's going to be tighter."
He was alluding to Toronto's game with Ottawa two nights later -- a good call, in light of the Senators' 2-1 victory -- but didn't dismiss the possibility that the Penguins were capable of being more competitive.
"I don't think Pittsburgh had their best game," he said. "I know they can play a lot better."
The Penguins did just that during the Rangers game -- not that New York did much to impede them -- and will have a chance tonight to avenge that six-goal embarrassment in the opener.
Of course, there's a chance they'll have to live through another evening just like it, but the Penguins seem genuinely enthused about facing the Maple Leafs again so quickly.
"We know what they do, they know what we do," Aubin said. "But what they don't know is that we can play a different game than we did [last Thursday]."
Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.
Penguins get another shot at stopping Maple Leafs' top line 
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