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SENATORS 4, Maple Leafs 3
Leafs outplayed in Ottawa
KANATA, Ont. (CP) -- Ottawa Senators centre Radek Bonk continues to fill the skates of holdout star Alexei Yashin.
Bonk, 23, scored a power-play goal and assisted on defenceman Wade Redden's winning goal as the Battle of Ontario resumed with Ottawa's 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I'm happy to be able to help the team win some games, it's the best start of my career," said Bonk, whose three goals and four assists have helped the Senators set a club record with a 4-0-0 start.
"We're great as a team, working hard. Alexei was our best player so everybody has to step up their game."
Ottawa goaltender Ron Tugnutt figures Bonk, the Senators leading scorer, has been the team's best player, so far, this season.
"What we're seeing has been developing over time," said Ottawa assistant coach Perry Pearn. "He got much better last year and has picked up where he left off. It's all about confidence."
Daniel Alfredsson and Andre Roy, with his first NHL goal, also scored for Ottawa.
Jonas Hoglund, Sergei Berezin and Todd Warriner replied for Toronto (3-1-0), which was outshot 50-23 before a sellout crowd of 18,500 at the Corel Centre.
"There was no space out there, Ottawa was in our face all night," said Toronto head coach Pat Quinn. "We were embarrassed.
"I don't know about embarrassed but we were beaten in all phases of the game. We played a lousy game."
The last time the teams met, last April 8, Ottawa won 3-1 at home to clinch the Northeast Division title.
The Leafs have yet to win at the Corel Centre and have not won in their last six visits to Ottawa, dating to a 4-1 victory at the Ottawa Civic Centre on Feb. 28, 1994.
The Leafs failed in their 20th straight attempt to win four consecutive games, also going back to February1994.
"We battled back but it didn't happen," said Leafs centre Alyn McCauley, playing his first game since March 3 because of concussion symptoms.
"This was my first game in Ottawa," said the former Ottawa 67's star. "It's nice to finally have it (the layoff) over."
Bonk opened the scoring on a power play 11:19 into the game. The Senators entered the contest with the NHL's leading power play (5-for-12).
The Leafs had not allowed more than 26 shots in a game this season, but the Senators took the first seven shots and held a 14-2 advantage than eight minutes in, and 22-5 by the end of the period.
The count matched Ottawa's single-period shot record.
"The way we were moving the puck gave us momentum," said Ottawa head coach jacques Martin. "We had great scoring chances from all of our lines."
Hoglund responded with his third goal, 35 seconds into second period. His innocent-looking knuckler trickled between the pads of goalkeeper Ron Tugnutt.
Alfredsson got that back at 8:52, converting Vaclav Prospal's pass from the corner for his third goal of the season.
"Bonk's whole line (with Marian Hossa and Magnus Arvedson) has been our best for the first four games," Alfredsson said. "They're taking care of their own end while playing against the other team's top line."
Roy took a drop pass from Shaun Van Allen and ripped a low shot past Joseph to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead at 11:36.
Berezin bounced a shot in off Tugnutt 5:24 into the third period and Warriner tied the game 3-3 at 7:48.
Redden scored the winner on a shot from the top of the slot during a power play at 8:49.
"I almost had too much time," Redden said. "But we never thought we had it in the bag."
Referee Mick McGeough disallowed a goal by Toronto's Garry Valk at 12:19 because of a hand pass.
"They forecheck really well," said Joseph, selected the game's first star after making 46 saves. "They came out hard and we can definitely learn from that."
Summary
----------------------------- Toronto 0 1 2--3 Ottawa 1 2 1--4 ----------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Bonk 3 (power play) (Hossa, York), 11:19. Penalties: Roy, Ott (fighting major), 3:28; Domi, Tor (fighting major), 3:28; T Warriner, Tor (hooking), 9:53. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Toronto, Hoglund 3 (Thomas, Sundin), 0:35. 3, Ottawa, Alfredsson 3 (V Prospal, Mceachern), 8:52. 4, Ottawa, Roy 1 (S Van Allen, Dineen), 11:36. Penalties: Domi, Tor (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:25; Arvedson, Ott (Obstr holding), 17:14. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Toronto, S Berezin 2 (Korolev, Markov), 5:24. 6, Toronto, T Warriner 2 (Perreault, Kaberle), 7:48. 7, Ottawa, Redden 1 (power play) (Dackell, Bonk), 8:49. Penalties: Sundin, Tor (slashing), 0:33; D King, Tor (roughing), 4:46; V Prospal, Ott (roughing), 4:46; Valk, Tor (interference), 8:02; Thomas, Tor (boarding, game misconduct), 20:00. Shots on goal: --------------------------------- Toronto 5 7 11--23 Ottawa 22 12 16--50 --------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: Tor - 0 of 1, Ott - 2 of 4. Goalies: Toronto, Joseph (50 shots, 46 saves; record: 3-1-0). Ottawa, Tugnutt (23, 20; record: 2-0-0). A:18,500. Referee: Mcgeough. Linesmen: Scapinello, Gagnon.
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