BREAKING: Pens sit STARS for tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs.

BREAKING: Pens sit stars for tonights game against the Leafs.

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed this morning that the team will rest some of its star players tonight as they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs from Air Canada Center in Toronto this evening.

The Pens bench boss stopped short of naming which players would sit out game 81 for the team, but it’s expected that defenceman Olli Maatta and superstar Evgeni Malkin will be amongst those in the press box. There’s speculation that the team may even rest captain Sidney Crosby, but with Crosby seeking to maintain his spot atop the league leaders in goal scoring the head coach will have to convince the superstar.

Of course, if the Penguins do decide to sit Crosby out they’ll be doing paying a huge favor to the Leafs who need a win tonight to clinch the final berth in this season’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The Leafs are just one point up on the surging Tampa Bay Lightning, but a victory tonight in Toronto would put them out of reach for the Bolts. For the Pens, the regular season is merely a formality that prepares them for another run at the Stanley Cup. For the Leafs, tonight could very well be their biggest game of the season.