Maple Leafs top Senators, end four-game losing streak

OTTAWA -- The Toronto Maple Leafs credited a speech by veteran forward Patrick Marleau during the second intermission for a come-from-behind 4-3 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.
The Maple Leafs ended a four-game losing streak with three straight third-period goals.

Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and Connor Carrick scored in the third period, Jake Gardiner had three assists, and Frederik Andersen made 15 saves for the Maple Leafs (26-17-5), who were 0-1-3 in the past four games.
WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Senators highlights]
"The message was 'enough is enough,'" Carrick said of Marleau's speech. "We really need to execute for each other and make sure we're making positive plays. I think there was a sense of urgency in the third, kind of a bite or a hunger. It's hard to identify, but you know what it is when you see it and I think we had it then."
"When guys like Patrick Marleau step up and say something in the locker room, guys are going to listen," Matthews said. "He's a pretty soft-spoken guy, but when he says something, you've got to listen up, and that kind of got the ball rolling."
Matthews scored his 20th goal of the season at 2:53 to make it 3-2, getting behind Senators defenseman Cody Ceci and backhanding the puck into the net.

Marner scored a power-play goal on great individual effort, skating around Senators defenseman Johnny Oduya, then toe-dragging the puck around Senators goaltender Craig Anderson for his sixth goal of the season to tie it 3-3 at 4:21.
Carrick made it 4-3 at 8:58 when his wrist shot from the point went in on Anderson's glove side.
"I didn't really tell them anything they didn't already know," Marleau said. "It was just a great effort in the third to come back and get the two points we desperately need to turn things around here. I think that's a step in the right direction.
"You don't want to have to do that. You want the team to be clicking and going on all cylinders."

Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman and Tom Pyatt scored for the Senators (15-20-9), who lost for the third time in four games (1-3-0). Anderson made 29 saves.
"Those things are real important," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said of Andersen speaking up after a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, and Marleau's speech Saturday. "When players take over the team, own the team and own what they do, you're a much better team. I was impressed with what happened tonight."
Karlsson scored on the power play off a rebound at 3:08 of the second period to tie the game 1-1. Hoffman finished off a rush with a shot from the left wing for his 12th of the season at 7:12 to make it 2-1, and Pyatt scored shorthanded at 18:05 for a 3-1 lead.

Zach Hyman gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:26 of the first period. Matthews had an assist to end a four-game streak without a point.
It was the Maple Leafs second win in the past 11 games against the Senators (2-6-3).
"Any time you give up two goals in that quick of a span, it's going to sting a bit," Senators forward Mark Stone said of the goals by Matthews and Marner 1:28 apart. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to rebound, we weren't able to regroup and they controlled most of the play for the third period."
Karlsson said the Senators inability to create pressure in the offensive zone hurt them.
"I don't think it's a lack of effort," he said. "I think we're trying and working hard enough to be a good team in this league. The hockey is just not there. We're not making the plays we need to make at the right moments. We're not keeping control of the puck and entering the zone with any kind of possession, and they just kept coming at us wave after wave. It's been our dilemma all year."

Goal of the game

Pyatt's goal at 18:05 of the second period.

Save of the game

Andersen's save on Hoffman's low shot at 11:57 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Marner's goal at 4:21 of the third period.

They said it

"That was a big win for us against a team you love to beat, and they've kind of had our number a little bit the last few years." -- Maple Leaf goaltender Frederik Andersen
"We have to figure out a way to play hockey and not just work hard." -- Senators captain Erik Karlsson

Need to know

Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly did not play after he sustained an upper-body injury Thursday. Babcock did not have an update on his status. … Stone had two assists and has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the past six games.

What's next

Maple Leafs: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SNO, ALT2, NHL.TV)
Senators: At the Minnesota Wild on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, FS-N, NHL.TV)