Okay let’s get this out of the way: It’s just pre-season, a time when NHL teams get a good look at newbies while the veterans tune up their on-ice rhythm.
But, still, it was the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators.
And, even though it was a pre-season game, Tuesday at Canadian Tire Centre, it was still a 2-1 win for Ottawa.
Sunday, the Senators opened their pre-season with a 6-5 overtime win over a veteran-heavy lineup of Maple Leafs. Tuesday, it was the Senators who had the experience advantage, with the Leafs giving a lot of younger players a good look.
Remember a year ago when the Senators had a 6-2 record in the pre-season then things quickly went sideways. Maybe, though, this will be different.
The Leafs opened the scoring 6:29 in; Alex Steeves found the puck in between a logjam of bodies in the faceoff circle and wristed a shot past Anton Forsberg, who didn’t appear to see the puck.
With the man advantage, the Senators had several chances in the late stages of the first period, but Anthony Stolarz made some big stops.
Ottawa tied the game with 3:33 left in the first period as Jake Sanderson moved in from the blue line and snapped a shot into the net glove side.
With an “upper-body” injury, Ridly Greig left the game after being flipped to the ice late in the first period and didn’t return.
Twenty seconds into the third period, Ottawa’s Cole Reinhardt and Toronto’s Pontus Holmberg dropped the gloves and fought.
With Sanderson serving an interference penalty, Forsberg made a couple of very good saves with less than eight minutes left. With the Senators still short-handed, Zack Ostapchuk stripped Nicolas Mattinen of the puck deep in the Toronto end and scored on Dennis Hildeby.
Next up for the Senators is a Thursday night home game against the Buffalo Sabres.