Pesky Leafs Down Senators And Stay In Playoff Hunt
Posted March 22, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Playoff hopes remain alive for the Toronto Maple Leafs after a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Kyle Wellwood, Alex Steen, Darcy Tucker, Jiri Tlusty and Matt Stajan each scored for the Leafs (35-31-10), while Vesa Toskala faced 36 shots in his 32nd win of the season.
Daniel Alfredsson, Cory Stillman, Martin Lapointe, Dany Heatley scored for the Senators (41-27-7). Martin Gerber stopped 29 shots.
With the victory the Leafs have now won four straight against the Senators, with the two teams meeting for the final time on April 3rd.
With the Senators playing their remaining seven games against Northeast Division rivals’ Saturday’s loss could prove costly in the final stretch.
Alfredsson opened the scoring at the three-minute mark when he caught Toskala out of position.
The Senators dominated the first period outshooting the Leafs 14-9, but Ottawa stepped up its physical play as they outhit Toronto 15-4.
Toronto tied the game on Wellwood’s power-play goal four minutes into the second period and then took the lead when Steen was left all alone in the slot, beating Gerber low glove side at the 12-minute mark.
Ottawa then went on to score three goals in a span of two minutes and 27 seconds, two on the power play.
Stillman tied the game 2-2 as he got two chances at the side of the net, but 58 seconds later the Leafs were caught out of position and Lapointe was left alone to beat Toskala.
Heatley made it 4-2 with his 37th of the season as he took a puck off the back boards and tucked it in at the side of the net. The Leafs salvaged the period, however, scoring with 54 seconds remaining as Tucker scored on a rebound.
The Leafs rode the momentum into the third period and scored two goals in a span of 41 seconds to regain the lead.
Poor defensive play by the Senators allowed Tlusty to draw out Gerber and beat him on the backhand, and seconds later a bad giveaway cost Ottawa as Stajan scored to make it 5-4.
Ottawa had a power play in the final minutes and pressured to get the tying goal, but Heatley, who fired a shot with seconds left, hit the post just after the whistle.
Ottawa lost the services of Chris Kelly near the seven-minute mark as he injured his left foot during a scrum in front of Gerber.
The sellout crowd of 20, 183 seemed to be split evenly, but as the game wore on the Leafs’ faithful grew louder.
With his tenth consecutive start Gerber tied his previous career-high while playing with the Carolina Hurricanes.
