Maple Leafs at Senators
THE STORY: Forgive the Ottawa Senators if the Battle of Ontario has lost just a bit of its luster. As they prepare to host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, the Senators have loftier goals on their minds after leapfrogging the Boston Bruins and moving into first place in the Northeast Division on Friday night. Toronto has little margin for error as it trails eighth-place Washington by eight points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBC
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (31-32-8): Toronto snapped a five-game losing streak and won for only the third time in 18 games (3-13-2) with Thursday’s 3-1 victory at Tampa Bay. Netminder James Reimer made 34 saves to win for the first time in exactly a month, coming within 26 seconds of a shutout. His last shutout was a brilliant 49-save effort at Ottawa last month. Defenseman John-Michael Liles scored a goal against Tampa Bay for the 300th point of his career.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (37-25-10): Defenseman Filip Kuba’s overtime goal was the difference in Friday’s 2-1 victory at Montreal. Ottawa moved one point ahead of Boston, but the Bruins have two games in hand. All-Star blue-liner Erik Karlsson assisted on the winning tally to continue his torrid streak. He has 11 goals and 12 assists in his last 15 games. Rookie Ben Bishop faced only 14 shots in improving to 3-0-2. His offense could have made it easier had it not whiffed on eight power-play opportunities.
OVERTIME:
1. Since Toronto posted a 5-0 blowout win at Ottawa on Feb. 4, the Leafs are 4-13-2 while the Senators are 10-4-3.
2. Karlsson is the youngest defenseman to reach 70 points since Hall of Famer Brian Leetch did it with the New York Rangers in 1988-89.
3. Maple Leafs RW Phil Kessel has four goals and five assists in the five meetings this season.