Murray, Maple Leafs recover for shootout win against Senators

OTTAWA --Matt Murray made 48 saves, and the Toronto Maple Leafs recovered for a 5-4 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

"A marathon of a game," Murray said. "Super exciting game to be a part of. A lot of emotion out there, a lot of energy in the building."
Murray made his first start against Ottawa since being traded to Toronto on July 11, 2022. He played two seasons (2020-22) with the Senators.
"He was a brick wall tonight," Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews said. "He was so solid and came up with some big saves for us, which is massive. … He doesn't get rattled in there, it's just on to the next shot and on to the next play."

Calle Jarnkrok scored twice, Mitchell Marner had a goal and an assist, and John Tavares and Matthews each had two assists for Toronto (42-18-9), which is 4-1-1 in its past six games, including a 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
"Back-to-back, a desperate team on the other side," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "On the road, we earned the four points out of four which] is good for our team."
Toronto remained three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Saturday.
Brady Tkachuk scored twice,
[Tim Stutzle
had a goal and an assist, and Mads Sogaard made 25 saves for the Senators (33-31-5), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1).
Ottawa is seven points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh lost 6-0 at the New York Rangers on Saturday.
"I thought we played real hard," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "I thought for stretches we carried the play. We did make some mistakes, but I think to a man, we came to win today and I think it just didn't go our way."

Jarnkrok gave the Maple Leafs a 4-2 lead at 9:39 of the third period, scoring on a breakaway after receiving a pass by Matthews during a 2-on-1, before Tkachuk cut it to 4-3 at 10:42 off a centering pass from Stutzle.
"They were buzzing all game," Murray said of the Senators. "They were pushing incredibly hard and throwing a lot at the net. They came hard all through the third period. Credit where credit's due."
Ottawa thought it had tied it 4-4 at 18:08 when Alex DeBrincat one-timed a cross-ice saucer pass from Claude Giroux during a 6-on-5, but the goal was overturned when Toronto used a coach's challenge for offside.
Tkachuk did tie it 4-4 with 11 seconds remaining during a 6-on-4, scoring from near the right post after a shot by Giroux deflected off the leg of Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe to him.
"[Tkachuk] brought it when chips were down," Smith said. "He finds a way, and then he beats the goalie there in overtime, hits the [crossbar at 3:29]; could've been over right there. He did everything he could to help us win."
Alex Kerfoot scored the deciding goal in the ninth round of the shootout.
"You just try to hold the fort as long as you can," Murray said. "By the end of it, I kept my head down when Kerfoot went in. I had my head kind of buried in my hands. I wasn't watching, just listening."

McCabe gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 3:11 of the first period, scoring glove side on a rebound in the slot. It was his first goal with the Maple Leafs in nine games since being traded from the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 27.
Julien Gauthier tied it 1-1 at 14:28. After a point shot by Erik Brannstrom deflected off Shane Pinto's stick, it then deflected off Gauthier's leg before dropping behind Murray.
"I thought we played a really good game," Senators defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "That's a pretty high-powered offense. They have a ton of [defensemen] that can move the puck, so that's a good game for us. I really do believe that we played a good game tonight."

Stutzle made it 2-1 at 5:31 of the second period when he carried the puck up the ice on an odd-man rush and scored blocker side while short-handed.
Marner responded 38 seconds later to tie it 2-2 on the power play, scoring short side on a wrist shot from the right face-off dot.
Jarnkrok gave the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead at 9:16 with a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle off a pass from Matthews.
"He's a great player," Matthews said. "He's just so sneaky good at so many things. So smart [and] gets into great spots all over the ice, not just in the offensive zone. He's just a really easy guy to play with. Obviously, his release, it's one of the prettiest releases I've seen in a long time. It's a lot of fun watching him get the puck off."

NOTES: Tkachuk has scored in three straight games (four goals). … Jarnkrok extended his point streak to four games (six points; three goals, three assists) and has 17 goals in 62 games this season, surpassing his previous NHL career high achieved in 2015-16 (81 games) and 2017-18 (68 games) as a member of the Nashville Predators. … Stutzle extended his point streak to six games (12 points; four goals, eight assists). … Marner has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak. … Toronto forward Wayne Simmonds had three hits in 6:44 of ice time in his first game since Feb. 1.