The puck goes off the cross bar in front of Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) and Toronto Maple Leafs' Roni Hirvonen (33) during first period NHL pre-season hockey action in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Zack Ostapchuk’s short-handed goal at 12:36 of the third period snapped a 1-1 deadlock and lifted the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL pre-season action on Tuesday night.
This was the second game of a home-and-home between the two teams with Ottawa taking Sunday’s game 6-5 in overtime.
Jake Sanderson also scored for Ottawa (2-0-0), while Anton Forsberg – who played the whole game – made 20 saves.
Alex Steeves scored the lone goal for Toronto (0-2-0). Anthony Stolarz started the game for Toronto and allowed one goal on 16 shots, while Dennis Hildeby took over midway through the second and gave up one goal on 11 shots.
Ostapchuk’s winning goal came after he stole the puck from Nicolas Mattinen.
The game was tied 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Ottawa failed to capitalize on a pair of power-play chances, while the Leafs were unable to take advantage of their lone opportunity with the man advantage.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk seemed unfazed by the fact that it’s just the pre-season and was in the middle of every scrum.
The teams exchanged goals in the opening period.
Toronto opened the scoring at 6:09 off a faceoff battle. Steeves was able to dig out a loose puck and fired a shot to beat Forsberg.
Ottawa tied it at 16:27 when the Senators were able to control the puck down low and Claude Giroux found Sanderson at the top of the slot.
Ottawa’s Ridley Greig drew two penalties in the first period, but suffered an upper-body injury and missed the remainder of the game.
NOTES
Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark has yet to play a pre-season game, with the team revealing he tweaked “something” and are being extra cautious with his recovery.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Senators: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.
