Field Level Media
01 Apr 2023, 05:10 GMT+10
With only postseason home-ice advantage to be determined, the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Ottawa Senators, a team desperately trying to stay alive in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, on Saturday night.
The Senators (37-33-5, 79 points) defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in overtime Thursday and enter Saturday five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild-card spot.
"The job is not finished and we've got seven games left," said Shane Pinto, who scored for Ottawa on Thursday. "We've just got to keep winning games. That's all that matters."
Ottawa has won two straight and three of four.
Philadelphia tied the game with three consecutive third-period goals.
"We worked extremely hard, created a lot, I thought, and we laid off a little bit in the third," Senators coach D.J. Smith said.
The Maple Leafs (44-20-10, 98 points) enter Saturday second in the Atlantic Division, four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lighting. Finishing second would give Toronto home-ice advantage in a first-round playoff series with Tampa Bay.
Toronto returned from a 3-2-0 road trip Wednesday and lost 3-2 in overtime to the Florida Panthers, who tied the game with one minute left in regulation.
"We had opportunities to bury them and build a substantial lead," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We've seen this a lot. We let teams hang around and get points from you."
Ottawa enters the matchup with injury concerns. Defenseman Travis Hamonic and forward Derick Brassard each left Thursday's game with a lower-body injury.
"Both guys, not good," Smith said. "Neither were able to return and it doesn't look like they'll be able to return anytime soon, but we'll know more (Saturday) morning."
Ottawa was already without defensemen Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun.
"It's tough to see," said Alex DeBrincat, who scored the overtime goal. "Two important guys to our team go down. It's not an easy thing to move past, but we've got to do it anyway."
With the defense depleted, Tyler Kleven got more playing time and had an assist in his NHL debut.
With the playoffs looming, Toronto will be considering the home-and-away discrepancies of its goaltenders.
Ilya Samsonov is 18-2-3 at home with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. On the road, he is 6-7-1 with a 3.23 GAA and a .892 save percentage.
Matt Murray is 9-6-1 with a 2.75 GAA and a .915 save percentage in away games. He is 5-2-1 (3.37, .880) at home.
"There's two extremes on both sides for both goalies, something that we're looking at for sure," Keefe said. "I don't know how applicable it might be beyond the regular season. You get into the playoffs, everything equalizes in terms of scheduling and both teams are going through the same thing.
"But it's certainly something that has my attention. Not a lot of games left, but for Sammy, we need him to play on the road and get more reps in there. And then Murray the other way. I think you'll see some of that the rest of the season."
With forward Noel Acciari (neck) out Saturday, the Maple Leafs recalled forward Radim Zohorna from their AHL affiliate.
--Field Level MediaGet a daily dose of Herald Globe news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Herald Globe.
More InformationGENEVA, Switzerland: A new United Nations report alleges that dozens of global corporations are profiting from and helping sustain...
LONDON, UK - Lawmakers in the United Kingdom have voted overwhelmingly to proscribe the direct-action group Palestine Action as a terrorist...
DHARAMSHALA, India: The Dalai Lama is set to address a significant three-day conference of Buddhist leaders this week, coinciding with...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: In a significant ruling last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for users...
ISTANBUL/PARIS/BRUSSELS: As searing temperatures blanket much of Europe, wildfires are erupting and evacuation orders are being issued...
VENICE, Italy: Over the weekend, hundreds of protesters marched through the narrow streets of Venice to voice their opposition to billionaire...
ABU DHABI, 3rd July, 2025 (WAM) -- The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and the National Basketball Association...
New Delhi [India], July 3 (ANI): The social media accounts of several Pakistani actors and cricketers remain blocked after it was reported...
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], July 2 (ANI): The much-anticipated LEGEN-Z T10 League will be played from August 7 to August 13 at the...
New Delhi [India], July 2 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ombudsman Justice (Retd) Arun Mishra has directed...
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 2 (ANI): Actor-comedian Kapil Sharma is back with another episode of 'The Great Indian Kapil Show,'...
Birmingham [UK], July 2 (ANI): Former head coach and cricketer Ravi Shastri didn't mince his words while expressing his discontent...