Ottawa Senators skate to close victory over Toronto Maple Leafs
If there’s one thing the Toronto Maple Leafs have had problems with lately, it’s scoring goals. They have been shut out by their opponents by a margin of 4-0 in games against New York
and Boston. The Leafs’ goal-scoring drought came to an end when they faced the Ottawa Senators at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, but they wound up on the wrong side of a 3-2 loss.
How it happened
The visiting Senators were the first to strike when Mike Fisher scored a goal on a penalty shot at 17:06 of the first period. Fisher was awarded the penalty shot after Maple Leafs defenceman
Mike Komisarek hauled him down while he was on a breakaway.
Sergei Gonchar gave the Sens a 2-0 lead at 7:33 of the second period when he beat Jean-Sebastien Giguere with his first goal of the season on the power play. Erik Karlsson and captain
Daniel Alfredsson assisted on Gonchar’s slap shot. Ottawa got another power play goal at 9:59 when Karlsson released a slap shot that easily found the back of the net. Gonchar and Nick Foligno were credited with the assists.
Toronto cut into the visitors’ lead when Nikolai Kulemin lit the lamp with a snap shot at 5:15 of the third frame. It was the Leafs’ first goal in two games, and Francois Beauchemin and
Clarke MacArthur picked up the assists on it. MacArthur then scored a goal of his own on the power play at 19:09. The assists went to Mikhail Grabovski and Kris Versteeg. But it was too little, too late for the home team, as the Sens went on to win the game.
What they’re saying
The Leafs were finally able to generate some offence in this game, but their strong play came at a price. Captain Dion Phaneuf left the game during the second period after a collision
with Peter Regin of the Senators.
“He’s got a cut on his leg,” Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said post-game. “It was deep enough that they wanted to take him to the hospital to determine the extent of the injury. That's
the last I heard.”
Like their provincial counterparts, the Senators were also coming off of a shutout loss. They had previously dropped a 4-0 decision to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, 30 October. Brian
Elliott held the fort for the Sens, making 33 saves to earn the victory.
“He was our best player, no question,” Alfredsson said.
Although the win was a close one for the Senators, Alfredsson was happy that his team managed to outlast the Leafs.
“It was a little closer than we wanted,” Alfredsson said of the win. “We’ll take the two points and go home.”
Home is where Ottawa will face the New York Islanders on Thursday, 4 November. The Leafs will travel to Washington, DC to take on the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, 3 November.
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