Toronto Maple Leafs sneak past Ottawa Senators
The Toronto Maple Leafs were able to sneak past the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night thanks to the strong play of their first line, which featured Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel. The Leafs were able to notched two goals late to take a 4-3 win.
The Leafs once again went with a veteran heavy line-up and one that looked very much like the roster they will start the season with. Toronto did however dress youngster Kadri in place of Kris Versteeg, who was in Chicago picking up his Stanley Cup ring. In
addition, John Mitchell was given a start at fourth-line centre, and Korbinian Holzer stepped in for Luke Schenn, who was resting after blocking a shot in their previous match-up. The Leafs played J-S Gigure between the pipes for the full 60 minutes.
The Senators iced a similar line-up, playing the majority of their veterans. The club sat Chris Kelly out and gave the start to Zack Smith, who is fighting for the final spot at centre. In addition, the club is still looking at defenseman Jared Cowan and Patrick
Wiercioch. Pascal Leclaire played his first full game in net.
The scoring started at the eight-minute mark of the first period when Nikolai Kulemin received a quick pass from Luca Caputi, made a terrific move to the front of the net and slotted home a backhand try.
The Leafs kept the pressure on and with only 37 seconds left in the period Francois Beauchemin slid the puck into the slot to Kadri, who made no mistake, snapping the puck past Leclaire.
The Senators put the pressure on in the second period, starting with a goal from Milan Michalek, who received a pass from Cowen and put a wrist shot past Giguere.
The Sens did not let up and Chris Campoli fired another wrist shot past Giguere, after getting a pass from Nick Foligno. The score tied the game up at two heading into the second intermission.
Ottawa wasted no time getting started in the third period, as Daniel Alfredsson picked up a loose puck in front of the net and snapped it past the Leafs net-minder.
Nevertheless, Toronto did not go quietly, as Kadri made a nice move in front of the net, waiting out Leclaire and putting a wrist shot past the goalie for his second goal of the game.
The Leafs were determined late and with only two minutes remaining Kadri dropped a pass off to captain Dion Phaneuf, who let a shot go, which was tipped by Kessel for his fifth of the pre-season.
The two teams will meet again in regular season action on 9 October.
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