The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators met for the first time in the regular season in the battle of Ontario in a tightly contested game. The Energy level was high as the nation’s capital of Ottawa entered the nation’s financial capital of Toronto in last night’s match.
The two teams have different lineups for this season, as the Maple Leafs push forward to attempt a Stanley Cup appearance after years of rebuilding. Brian Burke has made offseason moves and brought in talented youth, starting off the season strong with a 2-0 shutout on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, courtesy of goaltender James Reimer.
The youth and inexperience of the Senators showed in the beating they sustained by the Detroit Red Wings in last night’s game, but Ottawa once again showed fight-back ability. In Detroit, they fell to 5-0 before tallying their first goal in a failed attempt at a come-back, finishing the game with a 5-3 loss to the Wings.
Last night didn’t differ too much for the Sens, as Toronto came out of the gates flying. The Maple Leafs scored four goals before the Senators would respond, and a fifth just one minute and ten seconds after Ottawa’s first tally. The come-back that ended at a 6-5 loss to the Maple Leafs showed a bit of resolve in the Sens’ young roster, but it equally showed an amount of weakness on the Maple Leafs’ blue-line.
There were a few players in particular that didn’t show any weakness at all throughout the Northeast divisional game. Phil Kessel starred in the contest, as he recorded a hat-trick, which included the game winning goal. It was Kessel’s third career hat-trick, and first at a Toronto Maple Leaf. Kessel ended the night with three goals and one assist, proving that he still is the best player on the Maple Leafs’ roster.
"I'm playing with good linemates," Kessel said. "They're getting the puck in good areas to me, and I was able to bury them."
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and head coach Ron Wilson complimented Kessel, who seemed to be everywhere on the - ice all at once.
"Phil has been extremely good for us both games," Phaneuf said. "He's been one of our best forwards, if not our best. And not just scoring goals. He's been strong in both ends of the ice for us."
"He played really well the last two months of last season and he's continuing where he left off," said head coach Ron Wilson. "We've asked him to be a little more aggressive on the forecheck and he was doing that."
"Tonight he was getting in there really quick."
Phaneuf brought the home crowd to their feet after he delivered an earth shattering hit to rookie Stephane Da Costa, a not-so warm welcome to the National Hockey League. Immediately after the hit, Ottawa players swarmed the boy in Blue, as Chris Neil tangled up with Luke Schenn shortly after the hit to make a statement.
"That's one thing that bugs me," Phanuef said of the hit. "You make a clean hit and guys come in and expect you to fight. I don't have anything to prove to them. I'm going to play style that I play."
"You don't like to see one of your teammates get hit like that," Chris Neil said, who received 19 minutes worth of penalties on the fight instigation with Schenn. "It was a pretty big hit for them."
Neil won the fight cleanly, as Schenn took a beating from the tough-guy, Neil. Head coach of the Senators, Paul MacLean, took acception to his wingers’ actions, and defended the hit that Phaneuf laid on the youngster. Neil’s penalty would result in another powerplay goal for the Maple Leafs, bringing them at that point to a 4-0 lead. The game consisted of 80 penalty minutes, 40 to each team.
"You have to accept a certain amount of risk when you play this game," MacLean said. "I know I'd never come across (the middle of the ice) like that."
"I thought the hit was clean and I expected no other response other than the one we had on the ice."
Through the Maple Leafs’ first five periods of play in 2011-2012, the team did not yield a single goal. James Reimer’s shutout streak ended at 101:42, when 25 year-old Colin Greening scored just under two minutes into the third period. When Maple Leafs’ tough guy scored just over a minute later, the Leafs were feeling too comfortable with the chances that Greening’s goal was a one-off.
At 11:04 of the third period, the wheels came off of the Maple Leafs’ game plan. Captain and veteran NHL elite Daniel Alfredsson brought the game to 5-2 as he exited the penalty box, and accepted a long feed pass from Filip Kuba and was left all alone to freeze goaltender James Reimer.
As the Maple Leafs’ discipline broke down, the Senators would continue to unravel the deficit with a pair of powerplay goals by Jason Spezza five and a half minutes later, and then Alfredsson’s second tally of the game just eight seconds later.
"I'm hoping it was all a dream,” Leafs’ goaltender James Reimer said as he was left stunned, along with the rest of the arena as their lead had slipped to 5-4 late in the third period. "It sure wasn't pretty, but the fans got their money's worth and we got the two points."
Maple Leafs’ Dion Phaneuf, who was responsible for the delay of game penalty that led to Alfredsson’s second tally had one assist and four shots, finishing up a +2 in the plus/minus category was not pleased with his team’s efforts.
"We played really well for 40 minutes, 50 minutes, but we took our foot off the pedal and they came hard. We need to learn from that. But it's a big two points and we'll take them."
Two points, indeed. The Maple Leafs move to 2-0 early in the season, as their biggest enemy in recent years has been their start to the year. The Senators young club has now fallen to 0-2, just the opposite of their Northeast rivals.
"Even if we're in a tough position we're not going to quit as a team," Alfredsson said of the attempted come-back. "Once you get momentum it's hard to turn it around -- but we would like to start the game with that momentum and put ourselves in front. We'll be a better team and have a chance to get some more points."
Alfredsson certainly did everything he could to bring his club back into the contest, but he was outdone by Phil Kessel on this night. Kessel scored three goals on four shots, and though the season is still in its’ infancy, Kessel has started off right as he tied for a league best five points with Thomas Vanek and David Legwand, and three goals with Anze Kopitar.
The Maple Leafs and Sabres are the only teams in the Northeast undefeated, and with the rise in strength in the division, the Senators are looking at a tough road ahead.
The Senators continue on Thursday against the young Colorado Avalanche, who were shut out by the red-hot Detroit Red Wings 3-0 last night, while the Maple Leafs don’t take to the ice again until Saturday. Head coach Ron Wilson believes this could benefit his club as they mesh together through team practices and off-ice experiences.
"We'll have a good week where we're spending time together," Wilson said. "That's as much a positive because we haven't spent a night in a hotel yet or really together doing team activities. So it's going to be a great week for us."
- Kendall Grubbs
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