Maple Leafs 4, Senators 3 (SO)
OTTAWA -- Shootout goals by wingers Mason Raymond and James van Riemsdyk proved to be the difference as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
The win ended a Leafs' road skid at seven games without victory and extended the Senators' home losing streak to five games. It also increased Toronto's lead over Ottawa to eight points in the race for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Leafs' goals in regulation time were scored by left winger van Riemsdyk, right winger Phil Kessel and defenseman Jake Gardiner.
Replying for the Senators were left winger Clarke MacArthur, right winger Erik Condra and defenseman Erik Karlsson.
Leafs goalie James Reimer was considerably busier than his counterpart, Senators goalie Craig Anderson, as Ottawa outshot Toronto 50-31.
Reimer stopped tries by Senators center Jason Spezza and right winger Milan Michalek in the shootout.
The Senators were trailing 3-1 entering the third period when Condra closed the gap, taking a set up from left winger Colin Greening and firing a shot from the slot that beat Reimer high on the glove side.
Karlsson knotted the count with 9:30 left in regulation and the Senators on a power play, moving in from the point and converting a nice set up by right winger Mika Zibanejad.
The game was tied 1-1 when the Leafs scored the first of two controversial goals early in the second. Kessel's 16th of the season was off a 2-on-1 break made possible by what those on the home bench thought should have been a tripping call against Leafs center Nazem Kadri on Senators center Zack Smith, just inside the Toronto blue line.
Gardiner's goal a little more than eight minutes later was scored with van Riemsdyk inside the Senators' net. However, the referees ruled he was pushed there by Senators defenseman Marc Methot.
The first-period goals exchanged by van Riemsdyk at the 1:37 mark and MacArthur at 9:44 both were scored with their teams on the power play.
NOTES: Leafs G Jonathan Bernier was coming off a 48-save win, but coach Randy Carlyle went with G James Reimer. Entering the game, Reimer had a 6-0-0 career record in Ottawa and never gave up more than two goals at the Canadian Tire Centre. ... Senators LW Matt Kassian dressed for the first time in 11 games, as coach Paul MacLean wanted to add some toughness for the battle between provincial rivals. To make room for Kassian, MacLean made LW Cory Conacher a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... Leafs LW Joffrey Lupul, who is expected to be the first of Toronto's wounded to return from the injured list, missed his sixth game with a groin injury. ... Senators LW Clarke MacArthur's goal against his former team was his ninth of the season, making him the third-leading scorer in Ottawa. MacArthur went the first 11 games of the campaign without a goal.
