Saturday, February 28, 2009

Maple Leafs VS Senators (4-3)

Pavel Kubina scored his second of the night 33 seconds into overtime to lead the Toronto Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.Jamal Mayers and Tim Stapleton, playing in just his second NHL game, also scored for the Leafs. Curtis Joseph, making his first start since January 1, stopped 29 shots for just his second win of the season.Ryan Shannon, Jarkko Ruutu and Daniel Alfredsson scored for the Senators while Brian Elliott faced 38 shots.Toronto's blue-line was given a helping hand as Tomas Kaberle returned to the lineup for the first time after missing the last 13 games with a broken hand and Mike Van Ryn returned from a leg injury after missing the last eight.With both teams out of the playoff picture it was expected this latest instalment of the Battle of Ontario might lack some intensity, but the 20,050 at Scotiabank Place weren't disappointed.Ottawa took control of the play early on as they pinned the Leafs in their own end, but couldn't find a way to score. Minutes later Toronto's Nik Antropov had a point blank shot, but couldn't beat Elliott.Toronto opened the scoring at the six-minute mark on a goal Elliott would most definitely want back. Mayers beat Elliott glove side with a wrist shot the Senators goaltender should have easily handled.The Leafs made it 2-0 as Stapleton scored his first NHL goal as he took advantage of an Ottawa turnover.After being outshot 18-8 in the first the Senators came out with greater intensity and scored 29 seconds into the second to cut the lead in half as Ryan Shannon beat Joseph from the slot.Four minutes later Ruutu tied the game as he jammed the puck in past Joseph shortside.The Leafs nearly regained the lead with just over two minutes remaining as Jason Blake had a breakaway, but Elliott came up with the big save.Ottawa took its first lead of the game as Alfredsson beat Joseph with a slapshot through the legs early in the third period.Kubina tied the game with just over five minutes remaining with a power-play goal.Toronto leads Ottawa in the season series 2-1..Alexandre Picard, playing in his first game after being a healthy scratch the last four, left the game after the first period with a lower body injury and will be re-evaluated Sunday.

The Source

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