Maple Leafs 4, Senators 2
Tyler Bozak scored to snap a tie nearly six minutes into the third period as the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs staved off potential elimination with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
All-Star Phil Kessel, rookie Nazem Kadri and Nikolai Kulemin also tallied as Toronto climbed within three points of the eighth-seeded New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference.
Bozak broke a deadlock when he converted on the power play at the 5:42 mark of the third before Kulemin added his 29th of the season on a late tally.
After beating their provincial rivals, the Maple Leafs likely need to win their three remaining contests for a chance at the postseason.
Kessel opened the scoring with his team-leading 30th tally at the 12:23 mark of the first when he wired a shot past Craig Anderson. Toronto doubled its lead less than five minutes into the second on Kadri’s unassisted wrister.
Jason Spezza had a pair of tallies for Ottawa, which had won three straight at home. Spezza’s first came with 55 seconds left in the middle session, and his second on the power play at the 3:03 mark of the third leveled the contest at 2-2.