For the second straight night, the Ottawa Senators have defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. The result was 4-3 for the home team whose goalies did an excellent job and pretty much brought them a win.
Craig Anderson and Filip Gustavsson had 36 saves combined, and prevented the Maple Leafs from getting their revenge for a home defeat in Ontario on Tuesday. Back then, it was 3-1 for the boys from the capital. Anderson had a better save percentage, with allowing one goal in 21 shots, while his replacement conceded two hits in 18 attempts.
In general, the defense of the Senators did a solid job knowing how powerful are the rivals, and that is what made head coach DJ Smith very happy. Ottawa’s leader stated that the experience from these games is something very valuable for his players.
“To play two of the top lines in the National Hockey League, Tavares’s line (Tuesday) and then Matthews, if you’re a young defenceman and you’re out there playing against them you’re not going to get that experience anywhere else,” said Smith.
Senators reached a lead with a powerplay goal by Max Veronneau after 8:25. Connor Brown doubled it with 2:34 left in the first, and at that point, the hosts looked very well. They were leveled with the Leafs and were in control of the match.
But the second period indicated that there might be some changes in the remaining part of the game. Auston Matthews netted the first of his two goals today at 4:45, but Tyler Ennis responded pretty fast. Nevertheless, it was obvious that the visitors are turning up the tempo and that the momentum is slowly shifting onto their side. One of the main reasons for that was Matthews himself. The 22-year old center, appeared for the first time on the ice since the beginning of the preseason.
“Obviously it feels good to get back into a game,” said Matthews. “It’s our first game, so you’re not really sure what to expect, just trying to get back into it, get your timing back and get adjusted with your linemates.”
He scored another goal with 7:27 in the third period, and since that moment, the Maple Leaf began pressuring the hosts in order to level the result. They were playing without a goalie, and instead of scoring, they’ve conceded a goal.
It was Brady Tkachuk who hit the back of the empty net with 2:17 until the end, giving the ultimate advantage to the Senators. But then again, the Maple Leafs wouldn’t back down, and they managed to hit back, with 45 seconds to go. Nick Shore was the guy who beat Gustavsson. Unfortunately for the guests, there wasn’t enough time to do something more, and they had to settle with a tight loss. They had 18 shots on goal in this period, and were in full control of the game.
Toronto will try to post its first win in this preseason on Friday at home against the Buffalo Sabres, against whom they play a day later on the road.
Ottawa faces the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
