Maple Leafs beat Senators 4-3: Part 2
Tied at a game each after the first two periods of their third game, it was make or break in the third and final period. Toronto had been consistently taking shots on goal in the first and second period.
In the second period, the heightened nerves exploded on the ice as Ottawa winger Alex Kovalev and Toronto defenseman Francois Beauchemin took off the gloves. Ottawa Centre Mike Fisher confronted Maple Leaf Winger Jay Rosehill after he knocked down Ottawa
defenseman Erik Karlsson.
There was an official between them but the two weren’t going to stop. Beauchemin had the clear upper hand against Kovalev. Beauchemin pulled Kovalev down and unleashed a barrage of fists before the officials pulled them apart. Both received a 5 minute penalties
while Rosehill was sent off for 2 minutes.
When the third period began, the pressure was back on Toronto. The Senators’ 12 shots and two goals had put immense pressure on the Leafs and the Senators were not stepping off the accelerator. Just one minute into the third period, the Senators would take
the lead with their third goal. Ottawa Centre Spezza shot the puck behind the net where winger Michalek and defenseman Campoli followed. Toronto centre John Mitchell blocked Campoli but he was able to slip the Puck through to Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson
was right next to the net while Toronto winger Colby Armstrong covered the net with the goaltender. Alfredsson’s snap was on target to put Ottawa in the lead.
Though playing catch up, the Leafs knew that there was plenty of time left in the 3rd period to fight back. The third was the only period in which the Leafs actually had more shots on goal than the Senators. After the first goal, neither team
managed to score until the 14th minute when Nazem Kadri came through with his second goal.
Kadri got the puck at the Toronto blue line and carried it to the net all by himself. Ottawa defenseman Sergei Gonchar was in pursuit of Kadri while Chris Campoli stayed ahead of him. Campoli didn’t challenge him while Gonchar couldn’t catch up as Kadri
continued to move closer to the goal. He veered to the left and turned sharply back to the right to throw off Campoli. With Campoli deceived, it was just Kadri and Ottawa goaltender LeClaire in the way. Kadri sent the puck off the wrist and into the net. The
scores were equal again but won’t be for long. Six minutes remained in the game and four minutes later, the Leafs would take the lead.
Kessel moved the puck up from the blue line and passed it off to the right. Once near the blue line, Bozak passed back at Kadri while Kessel moved up at the goal. Kadri passed the puck back to an approaching defenseman Dion Phaneuf who passed it back to
Kessel. Between the Ottawa defensemen, Kessel was still able to tip-in the puck.
Just less than two minutes remained in the third quarter when Toronto’s fourth goal was scored. In total, the Senators had 25 shots on goal against Toronto’s 19 but some incredible saves by Maple Leaf goaltender Jean Sebastian Giguère tipped the scales in
Toronto’s favour. Giguère saved 22 shots against LeClaire’s 15 saves of 19 shots. 3 of 4 goals that Ottawa conceded were during power plays. The Maple Leafs gave up no power play goals to the Senators.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators won’t clash again until the regular season begins. They are scheduled to play each other again on the 9th of October in Toronto. It would be the second regular season home-game for the Leafs.
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