Sens Spoil Andersen's Return

 

Wednesday night the final round of this seasons Battle of Ontario as the Maple Leafs would travel to Ottawa. The Senators who have been on quite a hot streak to close out their campaign winning six of their previous seven games heading into this final matchup. Ottawa would look to Filip Gustavsson to start in goal while the visiting Maple Leafs would see a familiar friend as Freddie Andersen would see his first NHL start since March 19 before sitting out 6 weeks with a leg injury. Prior to Andersen’s NHL return he had a conditioning stint with the Marlies where he appeared in one and a half games where the last place Marlies lost both appearances against the Manitoba Moose. In his two appearances Freddie Andersen gathered a save percentage of .885% so I am sure Leaf fans were unsure as to what we would see from Freddie in last nights return to the big club.

The game would start with the Leafs a little sluggish which was a little to be expected because as we all know the previous meeting with Montreal saw the Leafs clinch top spot in the North, so the teams main concern is preparing for the post season. As I said the Maple Leafs would start sluggish and Ottawa would have more of a spark to their game, but some early questions would be answered as Freddie Andersen would be tested by the host Senators but he would rise to the occasion and he would keep his game simple slowing the play down and although as the opening period went on and very few shots were faced Andersen looked comfortable in the Leafs net which of course is a huge positive for Toronto as they begin their chase for Lord Stanley’s cup. With a little over two minutes remaining in the first period it looked as if the teams would head to the locker rooms tied at zero, but one time Leaf defender Nikita Zaitsev would open the scoring as he would send a wrist shot ringing off the post and passed a screened Freddie Andersen. So, thanks to Zaitsev’s 4^th goal of the season after 20 minutes of play the Leafs would be trailing by a score of 1-0.

Six minutes into period number the Maple Leafs would manage to get themselves level when on their third powerplay of the game after seeing the previous two in the first period go scoreless, but the third time was a charm as Jake Muzzin would one time a pass from Jumbo Joe Thornton passed Gustavsson tying the game at ones thanks to Muzzin’s 4^th goal of the year. With his assist Joe Thornton would become the oldest Toronto Maple Leaf to collect twenty points in a season. With the teams tied at one it looked as if with the powerplay marker that the Leafs would begin to play with more life and energy but unfortunately that was not the case because Ottawa would continue to press the action and play on the front foot and midway through the period with Toronto once again on the man advantage but it would be a former Leaf scoring against his one time team as Connor Brown would see his rebound attempt deflect off Andersen and in for his 21^st goal of the year and Brown’s 5^th goal scored shorthanded. Nikita Zaitsev would pick up an assist on the go-ahead goal, so these one-time Leafs were doing a great job haunting their former team. A few minutes later things would go from bad to worse for the sluggish Maple Leafs as with a delayed penalty upcoming against Morgan Reilly Ottawa prospect Parker Kelly would collect his first goal after firing a rebound that came off the end boards that Freddie Andersen managed to get across for a save but the puck managed to just cross the goal line and Ottawa’s lead would grow to 3-1. With sixteen minutes played the Leafs would manage to cut into the lead as William Nylander would team up with John Tavares when Willy would send the puck from behind the net quickly to Tavares who would score his 19^th goal of the year beating the Sens goalie on the blocker side cutting the deficit to 3-2. Tavares with this goal now has collected 50 points in 55 games and his critics which include one-time Leafs Assistant GM Dave Poulin have seemingly gone quiet as Tavares and his play continue to heat up heading into the post season.

The third and final period would see the Leafs trailing 3-2 but Toronto’s play would improve, and they would begin out shooting their opponents but were unable to find the equalizing goal. With only a few minutes remaining and things looking bleak for Toronto Auston Matthews who had remained quiet for most of the contest would be on the ice with Tavares and the returning Nick Foligno. He and Tavares would begin cycling the puck in the Sens zone and after John Tavares failed to score on his jam attempt Auston would collect a lose puck and snap it into the Ottawa goal for the 41^st time this season and even though Toronto did not bring their best effort the managed to battle back into this game and salvage a point as the game now tied at three would head to overtime.  Sadly, it would only take nine seconds of the extra session to determine a winner as after winning the center ice face off Mitch Marner would attempt to drop the puck back to Morgan Reilly, but Brady Tkachuk would intercept the puck and on a quick 2 on 1 he would send the puck to Josh Norris who would beat Andersen with his 17^th goal of the season capping off the victory in the season finale for the up-and-coming Ottawa Senators.

Although the Leafs would lose this game in overtime, I thought that Freddie Andersen looked good in goal he seemed comfortable and relatively confident, and I liked how he did not gibe up many rebounds. which will bring the Leafs some confidence with their goaltending as they head into their round one meeting against the Montreal Canadiens. With Jack Campbell likely getting the start in game one next Thursday he will get his final tune up Friday night as the Leafs cap off the 56-game season as the Leafs travel to Winnipeg to face the third place Jets.