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The Toronto Maple Leafs skated to a 3-1 victory tonight over Ottawa in a game that the Leafs' secondary scoring was the difference. Anton Forsberg was dynamite again, keeping his team in the game during the first two periods. The Sens couldn't give Forsberg the goal support he needed as they did on Thursday night. Who would've thought that Forsberg would be the Sens best player through the first two games of the season!
When watching the game tonight, I couldn't help but think how much of a difference Brady Tkachuk would've made tonight. Toronto neutralized the Sens top two lines during 5 on 5 play as the Sens only goal came on the PP by Josh Norris. There is no doubt the disallowed goal by Drake Batherson as the second period ended due to being offside, would've changed the momentum going into the third period.
Quick hits from tonight -
Tim Stutzle was super, skating hard and creating chances for himself and his linemates. But the Leafs did a good job of focussing on the Sens top two lines and keeping them off the scoresheet 5 on 5.
Tyler Ennis continues to make the most of his ice time/opportunity here in Ottawa. He continuously goes to the dirty areas and is terrific on the wall on the PP.
Victor Mete/Nikita Zaitsev, this pairing was horrible tonight! Both were a minus three and I truly think Michael Del Zotto will draw into the lineup on Sunday night. Outside of Thomas Chabot/Artem Zub/Nick Holden, the blue line is a mess! Josh Brown struggled again with his gap control too.
Ottawa was dominated in the faceoff circle by Toronto, with Tierney, Pinto and Norris all struggling. Only Logan Shaw was on the positive side. The team went a combined 37.5% in the dot! The Sens were doing a lot of puck chasing tonight and it showed when you look at the shot clock and the faceoff struggles. When the Sens needed pucks to the net trailing by two goals, they mustered 5 shots in the third period. Sadly, the Leafs had one shot on goal in the third period and it ended up in the back in the net.
The Sens don't play the Leafs again until January 1st and their final head-to-head meeting is on April 16th.
Looking ahead to tomorrow night, Ottawa hosts the Dallas Stars and it looks like Filip Gustavsson will get the start in goal as Matt Murray is out until at least Thursday. Even if Murray returns on Thursday, it will have been 12 days since he last played half of a game in the pre-season in Toronto. Brady Tkachuk will be a game-time decision as DJ Smith seems to be leaning to Brady getting his first game action on Thursday at home. Regardless of when he suits up, he will give this team a huge lift!
What Ottawa Senators player will score their first goal of the season on Sunday night? Curious to hear Sens fans' thoughts on tonight's game.
Thanks for reading. Kevin