GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NHL: TORONTO (6-9) at OTTAWA (12-1)

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 4 19:55 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 4 19:20 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 5
3RD PRD: OTT - CHRIS KELLY 3 (PATRICK EAVES, ANTON VOLCHENKOV) 6:25</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 5 10:08 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 5 7:37 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 5 3:58 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">NHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
TORONTO 0 1 0 1
OTTAWA 2 2 1 5 FINAL

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: OTT - CHRIS PHILLIPS 2 (DANY HEATLEY, MIKE FISHER) 2:59
OTT - PATRICK EAVES 3 (CHRIS KELLY, ANTOINE VERMETTE) 3:46
2ND PRD: OTT - (SH) DANIEL ALFREDSSON 10 (DEAN MCAMMOND, WADE REDDEN)
1:21
OTT - (PP) ANDREJ MESZAROS 2 (ANTOINE VERMETTE) 8:08
TOR - (PP) NIK ANTROPOV 9 (PAVEL KUBINA, TOMAS KABERLE)
14:23
3RD PRD: OTT - CHRIS KELLY 3 (PATRICK EAVES, ANDREJ MESZAROS) 6:25

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: TOR - 1 OF 9, OTT - 1 OF 4.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
TOR 9 16 6 31
OTT 9 6 6 21

GOALIES: TOR - VESA TOSKALA, ANDREW RAYCROFT
(11:52, 2ND)
OTT - MARTIN GERBER

OFFICIALS: REF - CHRIS LEE, TIM PEEL
LIN - BRIAN MURPHY, DEREK AMELL

ATT: 19,613</div>

 

OTTAWA (Ticker) -- On paper, Thursday night's game between theToronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators was a drasticmismatch in favor of the home team. It took less than threeminutes for the Senators to begin proving it.


Patrick Eaves, Chris Kelly and defenseman Andrej Meszaros eachhad a goal and an assist as the Senators continued their masteryof the Maple Leafs on Tuesday with a convincing 5-1 triumph.

Antoine Vermette recorded a pair of assists and Martin Gerbermade 30 saves for Ottawa, which improved to 15-2-2 in its last19 meetings with Toronto.


One season after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the firsttime in franchise history, the Senators have emerged as theNHL's best team, posting a 13-1-0 record. With this victory,Ottawa now has won a franchise-record eight straight games andset an NHL mark for the most points after 14 games with 26.

Defenseman Chris Phillips opened the scoring 2:59 into the gameto give the Senators a lead they never relinquished. With theSenators pressuring the Maple Leafs in the offensive zone,Phillips skated in from the left point, received a cross-slotpass from Dany Heatley at the half boards and snapped the puckover goaltender Vesa Toskala for his second goal of the season.

Eaves doubled the Senators' lead just 47 seconds seconds later,when he teamed with Kelly for a 2-on-1 rush. After Kellycarried the puck below the end line on the left side, hethreaded a pass in front to Eaves, who beat Toskala for a 2-0advantage.


Just 81 seconds into the second period, Daniel Alfredsson madeit a three-goal bulge for Ottawa. With his team shorthanded,the captain received a cross-slot pass from Dean McAmmond on a2-on-1 rush and fired the puck past Toskala from the leftfaceoff circle.


It was the 10th goal of the season for Alfredsson, who pulledeven with Dallas' Niklas Hagman for the league lead with threeshorthanders. Ottawa tops the NHL with five tallies while downa skater.


Meszaros put the Senators up, 4-0, during a power play at 8:08,sending a wrist shot from the right point that somehow gotthrough traffic and eluded Toskala. That was the last shotfaced by the Finn, who was replaced by Andrew Raycroft aftermaking just nine saves.


Toronto took advantage of one of its nine power-playopportunities with 5:37 remaining in the middle session to geton the scoreboard. Blue-liner Pavel Kubina made a cross-slotpass to Nik Antropov, who beat Gerber high to the stick sidewith a shot from the inner edge of the left circle for his ninthgoal of the campaign.


Last season, the 27-year-old native of Kazakhstan scored acareer-high 18 tallies.


Kelly converted a feed from Eaves on a 2-on-1 at 6:25 of thethird to cap the scoring.


Gerber was busiest in the second period, making half of hissaves in the session en route to his league-leading 10th win.The Swiss goalie, who began the season as the Senators' starterin place of an injured Ray Emery and has refused to relinquishthe job, is 20-1-2 since December 23.


Raycroft stopped seven shots for the Maple Leafs, who also lostboth ends of their season-opening home-and-home series with theSenators.


Mark Bell and Kyle Wellwood made their season debuts forToronto. Bell recently completed his league-imposed 15-gamesuspension for an off-ice incident in September 2006, whileWellwood joined the lineup after recovering from a hernia.

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">------------------------------------
Toronto 0 1 0 --1
Ottawa 2 2 1 --5
------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Chris Phillips 2 (Dany Heatley,
Mike Fisher), 2:59. 2, Ottawa, Patrick Eaves 3 (Chris Kelly, Antoine
Vermette), 3:46. Penalties: M Fisher, Ott (hooking), 8:26; J Corvo,
Ott (delay of game), 13:30.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson 10 (shorthanded)
(Dean Mcammond, Wade Redden), 1:21. 4, Ottawa, Andrej Meszaros 2
(power play) (Antoine Vermette), 8:08. 5, Toronto, Nik Antropov 9
(power play) (Pavel Kubina, Tomas Kaberle), 14:23. Penalties: M
Fisher, Ott (holding), 0:29; C Phillips, Ott (delay of game), 2:36; N
Antropov, Tor (boarding), 6:33; A Vermette, Ott (hooking), 13:31; A
Vermette, Ott (hooking), 17:59; N Antropov, Tor (interference), 18:17.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Ottawa, Chris Kelly 3 (Patrick Eaves,
Andrej Meszaros), 6:25. Penalties: M Fisher, Ott (), 0:40; C Neil,
Ott (roughing), 6:25; B Devereaux, Tor (holding), 9:01; C Schubert,
Ott (delay of game), 15:25; M Bell, Tor (double minor roughing,
misconduct, misconduct), 19:09; C Neil, Ott (double minor roughing,
misconduct, misconduct), 19:09.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
Toronto 9 16 6 --31
Ottawa 9 6 6 --21
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Toronto - 1 of 9, Ottawa - 1 of 4. Goalies :
Toronto, Vesa Toskala (13 shots, 9 saves; record: 5-6-1), Andrew
Raycroft (11:52 of 2nd period, 8, 7). Ottawa, Martin Gerber (31 shots,
30 saves; record: 10-1-0). A: 19,613. Referees: Chris Lee, Tim Peel.
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Derek Amell.</div>

 

OTTAWA (Ticker) -- On paper, Tuesday night's game between theToronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators was a drasticmismatch in favor of the home team. It took less than threeminutes for the Senators to begin proving it.


Patrick Eaves, Chris Kelly and defenseman Andrej Meszaros eachhad a goal and an assist as the Senators continued their masteryof the Maple Leafs with a convincing 5-1 triumph.


Antoine Vermette recorded a pair of assists and Martin Gerbermade 30 saves for Ottawa, which improved to 15-2-2 in its last19 meetings with Toronto.


One season after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the firsttime in franchise history, the Senators have emerged as theNHL's best team, posting a 13-1-0 record. With this victory,Ottawa now has won a franchise-record eight straight games andset an NHL mark for the most points after 14 games with 26.

Defenseman Chris Phillips opened the scoring 2:59 into the gameto give the Senators a lead they never relinquished. With theSenators pressuring the Maple Leafs in the offensive zone,Phillips skated in from the left point, received a cross-slotpass from Dany Heatley at the half boards and snapped the puckover goaltender Vesa Toskala for his second goal of the season.

Eaves doubled the Senators' lead just 47 seconds seconds later,when he teamed with Kelly for a 2-on-1 rush. After Kellycarried the puck below the end line on the left side, hethreaded a pass in front to Eaves, who beat Toskala for a 2-0advantage.


Just 81 seconds into the second period, Daniel Alfredsson madeit a three-goal bulge for Ottawa. With his team shorthanded,the captain received a cross-slot pass from Dean McAmmond on a2-on-1 rush and fired the puck past Toskala from the leftfaceoff circle.


It was the 10th goal of the season for Alfredsson, who pulledeven with Dallas' Niklas Hagman for the league lead with threeshorthanders. Ottawa tops the NHL with five tallies while downa skater.


Meszaros put the Senators up, 4-0, during a power play at 8:08,sending a wrist shot from the right point that somehow gotthrough traffic and eluded Toskala. That was the last shotfaced by the Finn, who was replaced by Andrew Raycroft aftermaking just nine saves.


Toronto took advantage of one of its nine power-playopportunities with 5:37 remaining in the middle session to geton the scoreboard. Blue-liner Pavel Kubina made a cross-slotpass to Nik Antropov, who beat Gerber high to the stick sidewith a shot from the inner edge of the left circle for his ninthgoal of the campaign.


Last season, the 27-year-old native of Kazakhstan scored acareer-high 18 tallies.


Kelly converted a feed from Eaves on a 2-on-1 at 6:25 of thethird to cap the scoring.


Gerber was busiest in the second period, making half of hissaves in the session en route to his league-leading 10th win.The Swiss goalie, who began the season as the Senators' starterin place of an injured Ray Emery and has refused to relinquishthe job, is 20-1-2 since December 23.


Raycroft stopped seven shots for the Maple Leafs, who also lostboth ends of their season-opening home-and-home series with theSenators.


Mark Bell and Kyle Wellwood made their season debuts forToronto. Bell recently completed his league-imposed 15-gamesuspension for an off-ice incident in September 2006, whileWellwood joined the lineup after recovering from a hernia.

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">------------------------------------
Toronto 0 1 0 --1
Ottawa 2 2 1 --5
------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Chris Phillips 2 (Dany Heatley,
Mike Fisher), 2:59. 2, Ottawa, Patrick Eaves 3 (Chris Kelly, Antoine
Vermette), 3:46. Penalties: M Fisher, Ott (hooking), 8:17; J Corvo,
Ott (delay of game), 13:30.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson 10 (shorthanded)
(Dean Mcammond, Wade Redden), 1:21. 4, Ottawa, Andrej Meszaros 2
(power play) (Antoine Vermette), 8:08. 5, Toronto, Nik Antropov 9
(power play) (Pavel Kubina, Tomas Kaberle), 14:23. Penalties: M
Fisher, Ott (holding), 0:29; C Phillips, Ott (delay of game), 2:36; N
Antropov, Tor (boarding), 6:33; A Vermette, Ott (hooking), 13:31; A
Vermette, Ott (hooking), 17:59; N Antropov, Tor (interference), 18:17.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Ottawa, Chris Kelly 3 (Patrick Eaves,
Andrej Meszaros), 6:25. Penalties: M Fisher, Ott (interference),
0:40; C Neil, Ott (roughing), 6:25; B Devereaux, Tor (holding), 9:01;
C Schubert, Ott (delay of game), 15:25; M Bell, Tor (double minor
roughing, misconduct, misconduct), 19:09; C Neil, Ott (roughing,
misconduct), 19:09.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
Toronto 9 16 6 --31
Ottawa 9 6 6 --21
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Toronto - 1 of 9, Ottawa - 1 of 4. Goalies :
Toronto, Vesa Toskala (13 shots, 9 saves; record: 5-6-1), Andrew
Raycroft (11:52 of 2nd period, 8, 7). Ottawa, Martin Gerber (31 shots,
30 saves; record: 10-1-0). A: 19,613. Referees: Chris Lee, Tim Peel.
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Derek Amell.</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------
TORONTO 0 1 0 --1
OTTAWA 2 2 1 --5
-----------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Chris Phillips 2 (Dany Heatley,
Mike Fisher), 2:59. 2, Ottawa, Patrick Eaves 3 (Chris Kelly, Antoine
Vermette), 3:46. Penalties: M Fisher, Ott (hooking), 8:17; J Corvo,
Ott (delay of game), 13:30.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson 10 (shorthanded)
(Dean Mcammond, Wade Redden), 1:21. 4, Ottawa, Andrej Meszaros 2
(power play) (Antoine Vermette), 8:08. 5, Toronto, Nik Antropov 9
(power play) (Pavel Kubina, Tomas Kaberle), 14:23. Penalties: M
Fisher, Ott (holding), 0:29; C Phillips, Ott (delay of game), 2:36; N
Antropov, Tor (boarding), 6:33; A Vermette, Ott (hooking), 13:31; A
Vermette, Ott (hooking), 17:59; N Antropov, Tor (interference), 18:17.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Ottawa, Chris Kelly 3 (Patrick Eaves,
Andrej Meszaros), 6:25. Penalties: M Fisher, Ott (interference),
0:40; C Neil, Ott (roughing), 6:25; B Devereaux, Tor (holding), 9:01;
C Schubert, Ott (delay of game), 15:25; M Bell, Tor (double minor
roughing, misconduct, misconduct), 19:09; C Neil, Ott (roughing,
misconduct), 19:09.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------------
TORONTO 9 16 6 --31
OTTAWA 9 6 6 --21
----------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: TOR - 1 of 9, OTT - 1 of 4. Goalies : Toronto,
Vesa Toskala (13 shots, 9 saves; record: 5-6-1), Andrew Raycroft
(11:52 of 2nd period, 8, 7). Ottawa, Martin Gerber (31 shots, 30
saves; record: 10-1-0). A: 19,613. Referees: Chris Lee, Tim Peel.
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Derek Amell.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

TORONTO OTTAWA
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
A Steen 0 0 -3 3 S Donovan 0 0 even 2
M Sundin 0 0 -1 3 D Alfredsson 1 0 +2 4
M Stajan 0 0 -2 3 M Fisher 0 1 +1 1
T Kaberle 0 1 -2 3 A Meszaros 1 1 +3 2
C Kilger 0 0 even 0 D Heatley 0 1 +1 1
J Pohl 0 0 even 1 L Richardson 0 0 even 0
B Devereaux 0 0 even 0 A Vermette 0 2 +2 2
A Ponikarovsky 0 0 -1 1 C Kelly 1 1 +2 2
H Gill 0 0 even 2 A Volchenkov 0 0 +1 1
P Kubina 0 1 -1 1 C Neil 0 0 even 0
A Stralman 0 0 -1 0 R Robitaille 0 0 even 0
K Wellwood 0 0 -2 1 D McAmmond 0 1 +1 1
J Blake 0 0 -1 6 C Phillips 1 0 +1 1
A Wozniewski 0 0 -1 0 P Eaves 1 1 +2 2
I White 0 0 -3 2 C Schubert 0 0 even 0
N Antropov 1 0 even 2 W Redden 0 1 +3 0
M Bell 0 0 -1 0 J Corvo 0 0 even 2
J Tlusty 0 0 -1 3 N Foligno 0 0 even 0
W Belak HEALTHY B McGrattan HEALTHY
B Battaglia HEALTHY J Spezza GROIN
B McCabe GROIN
S Gamache HEALTHY</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at OTTAWA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
TORONTO 1
OTTAWA 5</div>

 

By Mark Robinson
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


OTTAWA (Ticker) -- On paper, Tuesday night's game between theToronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators was a drastic mismatchin favor of the home team. It took less than three minutes forthe Senators to begin proving it.


Patrick Eaves, Chris Kelly and defenseman Andrej Meszaros eachhad a goal and an assist as the Senators continued their masteryof the Maple Leafs with a convincing 5-1 triumph.


Antoine Vermette recorded a pair of assists and Martin Gerbermade 30 saves for Ottawa, which improved to 15-2-2 in its last19 meetings with Toronto.


One season after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the firsttime in franchise history, the Senators have emerged as theNHL's best team, posting a 13-1-0 record. With this victory,Ottawa now has won a franchise-record eight straight games andset an NHL mark for the most points after 14 games with 26.

"We're playing well," Senators right wing Daniel Alfredssonsaid. "The challenge is to keep it going. We're not worriedabout streaks or records or anything like that. We just want togo out every night, give ourselves a chance to win."

"If you asked most of the guys, they didn't know about therecord," Kelly added. "The main focus is winning. We probablythink more about that rivalry (with Toronto) and also about howwe have to play against teams in our division. That's what'simportant."


Ottawa's Mike Fisher believes the team still can get better.

"We've been on a roll, and we know we've had a good start, butwe can improve on a lot of things," he said. "Our coaches havebeen making sure we're sharp through different layoffs andbreaks. We know we can't sit back and start thinking we're toogood. We know we have to get a lot better."


Defenseman Chris Phillips opened the scoring 2:59 into the gameto give the Senators a lead they never relinquished. With theSenators pressuring the Maple Leafs in the offensive zone,Phillips skated in from the left point, received a cross-slotpass from Dany Heatley at the half boards and snapped the puckover goaltender Vesa Toskala for his second goal of the season.

Eaves doubled the Senators' lead just 47 seconds seconds later,when he teamed with Kelly for a 2-on-1 rush. After Kellycarried the puck below the end line on the left side, hethreaded a pass in front to Eaves, who beat Toskala for a 2-0advantage.


"I think the start we had was the reason we won tonight," Kellysaid. "We have an intense rivalry with them and we always knowthese games are going to be difficult, so getting to them earlymade a big difference."


"I think we weren't ready tonight," Toskala said. "They came atus quickly and scored those two fast goals, and it was tough tocome back from that start. We tried, but it wasn't our night."

Just 81 seconds into the second period, Alfredsson made it athree-goal bulge for Ottawa. With his team shorthanded, thecaptain received a cross-slot pass from Dean McAmmond on a2-on-1 rush and fired the puck past Toskala from the leftfaceoff circle.


It was the 10th goal of the season for Alfredsson, who pulledeven with Dallas' Niklas Hagman for the league lead with threeshorthanders. Ottawa tops the NHL with five tallies while downa skater.


Meszaros put the Senators up, 4-0, during a power play at 8:08,sending a wrist shot from the right point that somehow gotthrough traffic and eluded Toskala. That was the last shotfaced by the Finn, who was replaced by Andrew Raycroft aftermaking just nine saves.


"(Being down) 4-0, it's tough to come back against a team likethat," Maple Leafs blue-liner Tomas Kaberle said. "We tried,and the second half was better than the first, but it's tough."

Toronto took advantage of one of its nine power-playopportunities with 5:37 remaining in the middle session to geton the scoreboard. Blue-liner Pavel Kubina made a cross-slotpass to Nik Antropov, who beat Gerber high to the stick sidewith a shot from the inner edge of the left circle for his ninthgoal of the campaign.


Last season, the 27-year-old native of Kazakhstan scored acareer-high 18 tallies.


Kelly converted a feed from Eaves on a 2-on-1 at 6:25 of thethird to cap the scoring.


"I think we gave up too many odd-man rushes, especially early,"Toronto's Mark Bell said. "You can't do that against a teamlike that or they'll capitalize. And tonight, they buried theirchances."


Gerber was busiest in the second period, making half of hissaves in the session en route to his league-leading 10th win.The Swiss goalie, who began the season as the Senators' starterin place of an injured Ray Emery and has refused to relinquishthe job, is 20-1-2 since December 23.


"We got into some penalty trouble in the second, and your bestpenalty-killer has to be your goaltender, and Gerber was againfor us tonight," Eaves said.


Raycroft stopped seven shots for the Maple Leafs, who also lostboth ends of their season-opening home-and-home series with theSenators.


Bell and Kyle Wellwood made their season debuts for Toronto.Bell recently completed his league-imposed 15-game suspensionfor an off-ice incident in September 2006, while Wellwood joinedthe lineup after recovering from a hernia.


"With nine power plays, I had a lot of ice time," said Wellwood,who played nearly 17 1/2 minutes. "I wasn't necessarily happywith the way I played, but it was good to get a game under mybelt."