Senators defeat Leafs 2-1

The Ottawa Senators won the second clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season led by goals from Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto with Anton Forsberg standing tall in the Senators net.

"The key is we just found a way to win," said head coach Travis Green following his team's victory. "You know there's going to be a lot of games like this down the stretch that you have to dig in and find a way."

The first period started off with some hard checking and exactly what you’d expect from a Battle of Ontario. During the opening minutes the Senators were able to hem the Leafs in their own zone and move the puck well, but were not able to get a shot on goal.

Shortly after the initial surge it was the Leafs who struck first when Bobby McMann fired a shot from the slot behind Anton Forsberg. Mitch Marner and Oliver Ekman-Larsson assisted on the goal at the 3:46 mark of the first.

The Senators stepped up their game the very next shift creating two solid scoring chances to the left of Joseph Woll, but Adam Gaudette couldn’t finish on the effort. It did result in the first penalty of the game as Jake McCabe went to the box for tripping Matthew Highmore on the play. While the Senators didn’t convert on the power play it did result in a swing of the momentum that Ottawa maintained until the end of the frame outshooting the Leafs 12-6.

After the power play ended Gaudette found himself with another great chance when he blocked a Jake McCabe shot and took a partial breakaway down the ice only to be stopped by Woll. Going back the other way on the foiled scoring attempt Nick Cousins and Jacob Quillan got tangled up at centre ice forcing Cousins from the game.

Just a few minutes late during their second power play of the game the Senators did manage to beat Woll and tie the game. Tim Stützle scored his 16th of the season when he hammered home a one-timer from Jake Sanderson.

The second period saw the Leafs reverse the amount of pressure on the Senators firing 12 shots on net to Ottawa’s five. However, neither team could muster any offense before the end of the period.

Early in the period the Leafs went on the power play when Ridly Greig was called for holding Austin Matthews’ stick, but the Senators penalty kill stood strong and kept the score tied.

Despite the play being in the Senators end for the majority of the second period Tim Stützle had two great scoring chances coming down the left wing and forcing Woll to make big saves. Even with the volume of shots on goal by the Leafs there were very few times where Forsberg was challenged with a great scoring opportunity. Both teams kept the puck to the outside and battled hard in the neutral zone.

The third period picked up where the second period left off with the Leafs applying pressure in the Senators end.

In the middle of the third it was Matthew Highmore and Shane Pinto collaborating on a strange sequence of events to give the Senators their first lead of the game at X of the third period.

Pinto almost extended the lead when he took a saucer pass from Greig to break in alone on Woll, but his shot was deflected just wide.

Late in the game the Leafs again began mounting pressure and Forsberg needed to stay sharp to keep the puck out during a late scramble.

Strong Ottawa defense made it impossible for the Leafs to pull the goalie as the game neared the final minute of play. Finally, William Nylander was able to break through the well-positioned Senators defense, but Forsberg closed the door for the last time sending the home fans home happy.

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