“It definitely pisses us off a little bit,” centre Shane Pinto says of the sea of blue Leaf fans at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Article content
SENATORS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1
Article content
Article content
A fortunate bounce made a huge difference for the Ottawa Senators in the latest round of the Battle of Ontario Saturday night.
It doesn’t matter how all that matters is how many and a bounce off centre Shane Pinto’s knee that landed in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ net turned out to be the winner in Ottawa’s 2-1 victory at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Pinto’s ninth goal of the National Hockey League season landed behind Toronto goalie Joseph Woll at 10:47 of the third period, and a strong effort by backup Anton Forsberg in net was enough to secure two huge points against the Leafs.
Tim Stutzle also scored for the Senators.
“I really just went to the net, (Matthew HIghmore) found a way to hit me and it just hit off my knee. It was nice to get one of those,” said Pinto, who was concerned the Toronto bench might challenge for a kicking motion.
The Senators were surrounded by a sea of blue Toronto jerseys with a sellout crowd of 18,818 on hand in the only visit by the Leafs to Ottawa this season.
“It’s always tough. It always fires the boys up for sure,” PInto told Hockey Night in Canada’s Kyle Bukauskas before the game. “It’s just another hockey game, but it definitely pisses us off a little bit.”
This was a physical battle and Auston Matthews had a quiet night for Toronto thanks to a strong effort by Pinto in a shutdown role.
SHUFFLING THE DECK
Senators head coach Travis Green switched all of his forward lines before the puck was dropped in a bid to create more offence.
Sports
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
It didn’t help that the Senators were with only 11 forwards from the midway point of the first period. Veteran winger Nick Cousins left the game with a leg injury after a collision with Leafs rookie Jacob Quillan.
Cousins had to be helped to the dressing room.
“He’s going to be out for a while,” Green said.
The Senators may have to recall a forward from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville on Sunday to face the Utah Hockey Club.
The possibility of the return of centre Josh Norris shouldn’t be ruled out because he was a full participant in the morning skate on Saturday.
The changes up front didn’t lead to much more scoring, but the Senators created opportunities and forced Woll to make good stops. He robbed Drake Batherson point-blank early in the second period.
Through 40 minutes, the Senators and Leafs played to a 1-1 tie.
“Outstanding. That was a hard-fought win. Both teams played well,” said Green. “The key is we found a way to win. There are going to be a lot of games like this down the stretch where we’ve got to dig in and find a way.”
The good news was the Senators’ drought of 147 minutes and 53 seconds ended on the power play at 10:43 of the first period, when Stutzle fired the puck past Woll.
Advertisement 4
Article content
That was only the Senators’ second goal with the man advantage in eight games, but it came as a relief after they were shut out in back-to-back losses against the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.
It was no surprise to see Forsberg make his second straight start in net, and he made the necessary stops.
“We played a strong team game. We stuck with it, and we got a bounce in the end, but good teams get bounces,” said Forsberg, who made 28 stops. “We didn’t cheat the game and we came up with the win.”
He had also been solid against the Bruins on Thursday and had played pretty solid against the Leafs in nine previous appearances. He moved his record against them to 3-4-3 with a .905 save percentage and a 3.41 goals-against average.
BATTLE SCARS
The best bet for the Senators was to try to take the crowd out of the game early. That wasn’t the case. Bobby McMann opened the scoring for Toronto with 16:14 left in the first period on the second shot that Forsberg faced.
“It was a huge win,” said Stutzle. “We haven’t been scoring a lot but tonight showed if we play the right way defensively, and stick with it, we’re going to get rewarded.”
Advertisement 5
Article content
That wasn’t the case the last time the Senators faced the Leafs in town was on Feb. 10 last season, when Ottawa scored a 5-3 victory.
That one is hard to forget because Ottawa forward Ridly Greig sealed the victory by firing a slapshot into an empty net. Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly was so upset with the act he punched Greig in the head and earned a five-game suspension.
Greig had a wry smile as he spoke before the game.
“It ended in a dramatic way, but it’s in the past. I think we’ve all moved on,” Greig said. “It’s probably good for the game. A lot of people hated it, a lot of people loved it, and it’s probably good for the rivalry.”
IT’S HAMMER TIME
Veteran defenceman Travis Hamonic returned in the nick of time for Ottawa.
Ten games after he injured a knee in a contest on Jan. 3 against the St. Louis Blues, Hamonic returned to the lineup against the Leafs.
Hamonic said he resumed skating 10 days ago and felt good. He took the place of the injured Nick Jensen, who left Thursday’s loss late. It’s a nagging injury that Jensen has been dealing with for a while
The hope is Jensen will be able to play later in the coming week.
Article content
