Senators seek strong finish against struggling Maple Leafs

The Ottawa Senators will hope to jumpstart their playoff hopes when they host the reeling Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

Embroiled in an ultra-competitive Atlantic Division, the Senators (35-24-9, 79 points) have a tall task ahead of them as they aim to get a leg up with the season dwindling down. A strong end to the season could clinch them their first consecutive playoff berths since 2011-12 and 2012-13.

"High pressure moments and big games are what's fun," goaltender James Reimer said after a statement win against the New York Islanders on Thursday. "That's what you dream of when you're seven years old playing street hockey, you know, you dream of Game 7 in the finals."

It was captain Brady Tkachuk who scored with 11.1 seconds remaining in regulation, pouncing on a rebound to flip the puck over a sprawling Ilya Sorokin to seal a 3-2 victory for the home team.

Tkachuk appeared revitalized after a dismal showing the night before in Washington in which he failed to register even a single hit. He opted to change that on Thursday, dropping the gloves with Islanders captain Anders Lee off the opening draw.

"I felt like I wasn't great last night in a big game, and I just know I needed to be a lot better today to help this team," Tkachuk said.

Trade deadline acquisitions in Warren Foegele and Jordan Spence also aided Ottawa's third-period comeback. Foegele tied the game early in the final frame while Spence floated the point shot on net that led to Tkachuk's winner. The Senators averted what would have been their first consecutive losses in nearly two months.

They will want to seize the opportunity to claim both points against the hobbled Maple Leafs (29-28-13, 71 points), who have been in abominable form since returning from the Olympic break. Toronto heads to Ottawa for the second game of a back-to-back after dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

Rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin ended that game just 41 seconds into overtime with a wrist shot from the face-off circle that sailed past goaltender Joseph Woll. The Leafs have dropped 11 of 13 games since the Olympics and have been outshot in all but one of those contests.

"We've got to shoot more. We didn't shoot enough. And there's more opportunities to get more shots on net," head coach Craig Berube said after the game. "The first goal is a great example of just a nothing shot. It's a rebound. You put it in, right? It's just that mindset of getting more pucks to the net."

The shot in question came off the stick of Bo Groulx before Dakota Joshua slapped in a rebound to open the scoring. Groulx has been a rare bright spot in the Leafs' bottom six since he was called up from the minors earlier this month. The assist made it five points in six games for the 26-year-old center who has not seen NHL action since the 2023-24 season.

"They've been good," Berube said of his makeshift third line of Groulx, Joshua and Mattias Maccelli, whom he gave the game's opening shift. "I thought Groulx had another strong game."

The two teams met at the end of February, where Ottawa prevailed 5-2. The Senators have won three of their last four games.

-Field Level Media