Anthony Duclair scored twice, including an empty-netter, as the Ottawa Senators defeated visiting Toronto 4-2 Saturday night, preventing the Maple Leafs from clinching a playoff berth.
Craig Anderson made 42 saves for the last-place Senators, who improved to 6-7-1 under interim coach Marc Crawford.
Magnus Paajarvi and Cody Ceci also scored for Ottawa, which took a 2-0 lead into the third period before the Maple Leafs tied it with goals 27 seconds apart. Brady Tkachuk and Colin White each had two assists for the Senators.
Auston Matthews and Connor Brown scored for the Maple Leafs. Goaltender Garret Sparks stopped 18 of 21 shots.
The first period was scoreless, despite the Maple Leafs holding an 18-7 edge in shots on goal.
Duclair opened the scoring at 5:24 of the second, taking a pass from Oscar Lindberg between the top of the faceoff circles and snapping a shot past Sparks that ricocheted out of the net just as quickly as it went in. Paajarvi also got an assist on the goal.
Paajarvi made it 2-0 at 14:43 of the second, taking a pass from Duclair at the top of the slot, spinning and firing a shot between Sparks' legs.
Anderson stopped all 30 shots he faced through two periods before the Maple Leafs broke through in the third.
Matthews scored a power-play goal at 5:02 of the third, taking a pass from Mitch Marner in the slot and putting a quick wrist shot past Anderson.
Brown tied it at 5:29 on an odd-man rush with a shot into the top corner of the net. Ron Hainsey got an assist.
It didn't take long for the Senators to regain the lead, as Ceci trailed a three-on-two break and took a drop pass from Tkachuk before putting a wrister into the top shelf.
Duclair capped the scoring with an empty-net, power-play goal at 18:47.
--Field Level Media
Toronto | Ottawa | |
Connor Brown 1 | Points | Anthony Duclair 3 |
Connor Brown 1 | Goals | Anthony Duclair 2 |
Ron Hainsey 1 | Assists | Brady Tkachuk 2 |
Auston Matthews 1 | Power Play Goals | Anthony Duclair 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Garret Sparks .857 | Save Percentage | Craig Anderson .955 |
Garret Sparks 18 | Saves | Craig Anderson 42 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Toronto | 44 | 2 | 1-3 | 2-3 | 16 | 33 |
Ottawa | 22 | 4 | 1-3 | 2-3 | 16 | 20 |