Maple Leafs beat Ottawa Senators 4-3: Part 1
The Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators in the third and final game between the two sides this preseason on Wednesday night. The first time the Leafs and the Senators met was a complete disaster for Toronto as they were crushed by Ottawa in a 5-0 drubbing.
The Maple Leafs bounced back in their next encounter. This time round, it was the Leafs who were firmly in control and handed a stunning 4-1 defeat to the Senators. Wednesday night’s game, in essence, was the finale for the teams and a chance to settle the
score.
Even exhibition matches can get pretty intense and that was certainly true today. The Leafs came at the Senators with everything in their arsenal. The first breakthrough came for the Maple Leafs during a power play in the 8th minute of the game.
Luca Caputi moved up from the blue line and passed the puck over to Nikolai Kuleman on the left. Ottawa defensemen Jared Cowen and Matt Carkner tried to cut off Kuleman but he was able to cut through both the players. He then successfully put the puck in the
net with a backhand shot past Goaltender Pascal LeClaire. The Leafs have struggled with power plays last season and began this year’s preseason looking no better in the power plays but since their first game against the Senators, a considerable improvement
has been seen.
Three of Toronto’s four goals came during power plays and the second one came in the first period as well. The scorer was Nazem Kadri. The rookie had been struggling to make an impression in this preseason and until Wednesday, he had no points to his credit.
With a sudden display of brilliance, the player had three points next to his name. Nazem not only scored twice on Wednesday, but also made an assist during play. That should keep his critics off his back for sometime at least. Kadri scored his first score
almost 10 minutes after Kuleman. Defenseman Francois Beauchemin made the assist for Kadri. Beauchemin carried the puck behind the net coming in from the left and passed towards Kadri who was coming down on the net. Defenseman Jared Cowen and Senators winger
Milan Michalek were coving the net along with LeClaire at the time but Kadri found his opening in the 19th minute.
The period ended 2-0 in favour of Toronto. Though Ottawa had 7 shots on goal against Toronto’s 6, they were unable to score against Maple Leaf goalie Jean-Sébastien Giguère, at least not in the first period anyway.
The Senators equalized the score in the second half with two goals - one from Michalek and the second from Chris Campoli. Ottawa then went on the offensive with 12 shots on goal against Toronto’s 6 in the second period as their aggressiveness paid off. In
the 9th minute of the second period, Michalek fought for the puck with Maple Leafs defenseman Carl Gunnarsson on the blue line. It was Cowen who shot the puck at Michalek and from there on in, Michalek was on his own. After having beaten Gunnarsson
for the puck, Michalek was faced by Toronto centre Tim Brent. Brent though was countered by Ottawa winger Daniel Alfredsson. Only defenseman Holzer and goaltender Giguère stood between Michalek and the net. The Ottawa winger took his time to take the wrist
shot and placed it perfectly for a goal.
Ottawa’s second goal was a beauty. Campoli stood almost at the blue line. Centre Zack Smith and winger Nick Foligno engaged the Maple Leafs defensemen and lured them to the right, away from Campoli who was camped on the left. Smith passed to Foligno, Foligno
to Campoli and Campoli took a 58 feet shot at the goal. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf tried to cover the goal along with the goaltender but Campoli found the opening before being charged by the Senators. Both teams now stood at 2 goals a piece. It took Ottawa 19
shots on goal to score twice, compared to 12 shots on goal by Toronto to score their two.
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