Ottawa Senators cruise past Toronto Leafs in pre-season action
The Ottawa Senators had no trouble with the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first pre-season game of the season, shutting out the Leafs 5-0 in the win.
The Leafs hosted the Senators at the Air Canada Centre for the club’s much anticipated first pre-season game. However, by the end of the first period, the game seemed all but over as the Senators dominated play and the Leafs looked inept at the offensive end.
The first period started off with a bang as Senators forward Jesse Winchester slotted one past Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson at the six-minute mark.
It was not long after that Nick Foligno rushed down the sideboards, sneaking past a Dion Phaneuf hip-check, giving him a clear path to a the goal. Foligno made no mistake putting a shot over the shoulder of Gustavsson, making it 2-0 Ottawa before the 10-minute
mark.
Leafs’ enforcer Jay Rosehill tried to spark his team with a fight against Zack Smith at the end of the first period, getting the best of the youngster.
In the second period, the Senators blessed the Leafs with a parade to the penalty box. However, the Buds were not able to take advantage of two five-on-three opportunities, as their power play looked disjointed all game.
The Sens took advantage of a lacklustre Maple Leafs performance, with a goal from Corey Locke 15 minutes into the second.
The third period was more of the same, as Ottawa controlled play and was able to produce off the rush.
Chris Neil netted one of his own 11 minutes into the third to tally his third point of the game. Just over a minute later Chris Kelly managed to put one home as well with the helper going to David Hale.
The Senators closed out an easy 5-0 win over the Leafs, matching the Leafs in toughness and topping them in offensive skill, exposing Toronto’s weaknesses on defence and cruising to victory.
Analysis
There is very little the Leafs can take away from this game, except for the fact that they have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately for the Leafs fans, none of the youngsters in the line-up stood out and perhaps even more concerning, the veterans simply looked
atrocious.
The Senators were able to control play with a relatively young line-up, not playing any of their top-level talent. This type of domination, with what was essentially a second string line-up, has to be comforting to coach Cory Clouston.
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