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SENATORS 3, Maple Leafs 2
Bonk's power-play goal leads Sens
This was billed as a game that would go a long way towards deciding who would finish first in the Northeast Division and that is true. Perhaps just as important for each club was taking steps towards establishing those identities and play well heading into the playoffs.
The Corel Centre may have hurt the Leafs once again as defenceman Danny Markov left the game with a suspected fractured foot.
Regardless, the two points they earned with their 3-2 win were savoured by the Senators Thursday night, but just as important as the destination was the journey.
The Senators had their way for most of the game, forcing the Leafs, cutting off their speed and winning by virtue of Radek Bonk's power-play goal at 10:12 of the third during a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty to the Leafs.
"I feel like saying we got jobbed (by the officials)," said Leafs coach and general manager Pat Quinn. "But we just didn't play well enough to win."
At this time of year for the league's elite teams, form can often be as important as the finish. The Senators can take heart in they played their disciplined style and got some great special teams play.
This was a solid step in the direction in which they would like to go with the playoffs now less than three weeks away. Also encouraging was seeing goaltender Tom Barrasso come up with a solid game in registering his second-straight win. He had a big stop against Leafs captain Mats Sundin with just over two minutes to go.
"This was like a playoff game for us, a huge test," said Senators winger Andreas Dackell, whose 10th goal of the season and third in two games gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead at 13:08 of the first.
"We showed we can play tough when we need to. We played solid, especially defensively. Our defence did a good job standing up at the blue line and taking the speed away from their forwards.
"This feels awesome right now. We're three points back with a game in hand and we're going to battle (for first place)."
The Leafs deserve some credit for they overcame the pace and tempo which had been established by the Senators in the early part of the game.
That is not often accomplished against elite competition in the NHL. Rolling the rock back up the mountain is a formidable task. The Senators thrive on playing with a lead because it allows them to be even more patient and disciplined.
An example of that discipline was shown early in the game when Ottawa tough guy Andre Roy and Leaf policeman Tie Domi came together in front of the Ottawa bench. The grappled and Domi dropped his gloves.
Roy turned and shouted to Senators coach Jacques Martin, asking if he should go. The answer was no and Roy backed off, leaving Domi with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the Senators on the power play.
Some solid penalty killing led to their first goal as Rob Zamuner came out of the penalty box and poked home a rebound of a Daniel Alfredsson shot.
Dackell picked off an ill-conceived pass up the middle by Markov, spun and put a backhand behind Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph to make it 2-0.
"The first goal was off-side," said Quinn. "If we get the right call, it changes the start of the game. We had some tough calls that influenced the game. We played better in the second and third, but then there were a couple of calls out of the blue."
The too-many-men-on-the-ice call came at 9:30 of the third when Leafs captain Mats Sundin jumped on the ice and puck hit him.
"Mats jumped off one end and the player came along the bench (to the other gate)," said Quinn. "That's the same change we've been making all year. It just wasn't the right call."
Ottawa defenceman Sami Salo ripped a shot off the leg of Markov and Bonk buried the rebound for the winner. The goal was a double killer for the Leafs for Markov left the game and was taken for X-rays. The Leafs can ill afford to lose another defenceman after Bryan Berard was felled on the same ice surface less than two weeks ago with a career-threatening eye injury.
The Leafs, who had failed to generate much offence in losses to vastly inferior opponents like the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders lately, showed a lot by turning the momentum of the game in the second period.
Yanic Perreault, who always seems to save his best for the Senators, was in the middle of the resurrection. He won a draw deep in the Leafs zone late in the first period and made a pass which sprung Sergei Berezin through the neutral zone which resulted in Nik Antropov's goal off a rebound.
Perreault then scored his 10th goal in his last 12 games against the Senators, tieing the game 2-2 at 12:19 of the second period as he tapped in his own rebound behind Senators defenceman Patrick Traverse.
The Leafs dicated the pace of the game through the end of the second period, the two teams trading odd-man rushes late in the period in a game with flow too rarely seen in today's NHL.
But when the crush came in the third, the Leafs were left wanting, again.
"Our forwards are not ready to play," said Quinn. "They were throwing the puck and got our (blue) line so easy, it was like we weren't out there at all. We're getting offence from one line right now.
"We haven't been very good for a while," said Quinn. "And I don't have the answer."
The fact is, for Quinn and the Leafs, the time to find the answer is running out fast.
Summary
-----------------------------
Toronto 1 1 0--2
Ottawa 2 0 1--3
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Zamuner 9 (Alfredsson, S Van Allen),
5:02. 2, Ottawa, Dackell 10 (unassisted), 13:08. 3, Toronto, Antropov 10
(S Berezin, Perreault), 19:05. Penalties: Zamuner, Ott (interference),
2:52; Domi, Tor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:23; V Prospal, Ott
(slashing), 8:55.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Toronto, Perreault 17 (Antropov), 12:19.
Penalties: Antropov, Tor (slashing), 2:23; Bonk, Ott (goalie
interference), 4:13; Perreault, Tor (slashing), 9:47; Domi, Tor
(roughing), 14:55; Phillips, Ott (roughing), 14:55.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Ottawa, Bonk 20 (power play) (Salo, Hossa),
10:12. Penalties: Thomas, Tor (Obstr tripping), 4:58; Toronto bench,
served by Domi (too many men on the ice), 9:30; Mceachern, Ott (roughing),
15:37; Tucker, Tor (roughing), 15:37.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Toronto 8 10 9--27
Ottawa 16 11 9--36
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Tor - 0 of 3, Ott - 1 of 5. Goalies: Toronto,
Joseph (36 shots, 33 saves; record: 32-18-7). Ottawa, Barrasso (27, 25;
record: 7-8-2). A:18,500. Referees: Shick, Zelkin. Linesmen: Driscoll,
Gagnon.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Toronto Ottawa
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Adams 0 0 even 0 Alfredsson 0 1 even 4
Antropov 1 1 +1 4 Bonk 1 0 even 4
Cross 0 0 +1 1 Dackell 1 0 even 4
Di Yushkevich 0 0 even 2 Dineen 0 0 even 0
Diduck 0 0 +1 0 Forbes 0 0 even 0
Domi 0 0 even 1 Hossa 0 1 even 4
Hoglund 0 0 even 0 Juneau 0 0 -1 1
Kaberle 0 0 even 2 Kravchuk 0 0 even 0
Karpovtsev 0 0 -1 0 Mceachern 0 0 even 5
Khristich 0 0 -1 0 Phillips 0 0 -1 0
Korolev 0 0 -1 1 Redden 0 0 +1 2
Markov 0 0 -1 2 Roy 0 0 even 0
Perreault 1 1 +1 5 S Van Allen 0 1 even 0
S Berezin 0 1 +1 4 Salo 0 1 even 1
Sundin 0 0 even 4 Traverse 0 0 -1 2
Thomas 0 0 even 0 V Prospal 0 0 even 4
Tucker 0 0 -1 1 York 0 0 +1 3
Valk 0 0 even 0 Zamuner 1 0 +1 2
K King Healthy Ledyard Healthy
Clark Healthy Fisher Knee Injury
Mccauley Healthy Arvedson Abdominal
Mcallister Healthy Miller Healthy
B Berard Eye Injury
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