The Maple Leafs endured a second straight 50 shot barrage from the struggling Ottawa Senators and blew a two-goal third period lead, but held on through the latter part of the third period and overtime to win a 4-3 shootout victory the latest edition of the Battle of Ontario.
James van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel and Jake Gardiner scored for Toronto, Clarke MacArthur, Erik Condra and Erik Karlsson had goals for the Senators and van Riemsdyk and Mason Raymond scored in the shootout to register the Leafs 16th win of the season.
Toronto took an early lead on van Riemsdyk’s power play goal just 1:37 into the game, but the Senators tied the game midway through the first as ex-Leaf Clarke MacArthur also scored the man advantage.
The Leafs took a commanding 3-1 lead in the middle frame, as Kessel scored his club-leading 16th goal of the season on a nice van Riemsdyk saucer pass and Jake Gardiner first goal of the year, as JVR was shoved behind Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson by Sens defender Marc Methot.
The Blue and White continued their trend of yielding control of the puck and taking careless penalties, which forced them into a passive posture for most of the second half of the game. Toronto gave the Senators eight power play opportunities on the night, which allowed Ottawa to bounce back in the third period. After Erik Condra’s goal early in the third narrowed the gap to 3-2, Karlsson’s power play marker tied the game.
“We work hard for forty minutes of the game and establish the type of game we wanted to play and then we take some penalties that change the momentum and don’t seem to be able to get it back.… head coach Randy Carlyle commented after the game.
Carlyle continued his recent trend of playing his core players major minutes, as James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel saw over 24 minutes and Nazem Kadri, Mason Raymond and Trevor Smith all exceeded 20 minutes of ice time. Dion Phaneuf led all Leafs with 28:32 in ice time. Recent call up Jerry D’Amigo was given slightly more playing time in his second NHL game, mostly on the penalty kill and defenseman John-Michael Liles played well in his first game of the season, as he was +2 in nearly 18 minutes of ice time.
Toronto was able to hold off the charging Senators for the final ten minutes of regulation and had a few chances to win the game in overtime, but the best chance belonged to Ottawa, as they failed to convert on a three-on-one break with Mason Raymond back as the lone defender.
Reimer stood tall in the shootout, stopping Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek with his glove hand, while van Riemsdyk capped a three point night with a backhand goal in the shootout and Raymond ended the night with his second shootout goal against Ottawa this season.
The Leafs held an optional skate at Air Canada Center Sunday morning and only Reimer, Frazer McLaren and the scratches from Saturday’s game; Paul Ranger, Morgan Rielly, Carter Ashton and Joffrey Lupul took to the ice. Lupul has missed six games with a strained groin, but has been skating with the club most of the week and could be a game time decision for Sunday night's match against the Bruins.
Jonathan Bernier will get the call in goal for Toronto, who will likely be without a number of key players after a wild 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh at the TD Garden in Boston Saturday night.
Boston was without defensemen Adam McQuaid and Johnny Boychuk, who was taken off on a stretcher after being hit by Montreal’s Max Pacioretty at the Bell Centre on Thursday and may be without forwards Loui Eriksson, Shawn Thornton and Chris Kelly on Sunday.
Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik laid out Eriksson with a mid-ice check in the first period of the rematch between last year’s Eastern Conference finalists and sent the Swede to the locker room with a suspected concussion.
James Neal’s knee to the head of Bruins pest Brad Marchand escalated the ugliness and resulted in Thornton’s exacting retribution with two punches to Orpik’s jaw as he was prone on the ice. Orpik was later taken off the ice by stretcher and was reported to be conscious and aware after being taken to a Boston hospital.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Kelly suffered a broken ankle after being being slashed by Pittsburgh’s Pascal Dupuis.
Thornton has an in person hearing with Brendan Shanahan on Sunday and could face a suspension of more than five games.
INTERESTED IN TICKETS TO THE GAME???: Get Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets For Any Game At FanXchange.com.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter: Follow @mikeinbuffalo
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.