TORONTO -- The Ottawa Senators kept the faith.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs came back with three straight goals to take the lead, they did not panic and stayed with the plan.

It worked. The Senators rallied with four goals -- two into an empty net -- in the third period to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Saturday night.

The Senators scored twice in the first period, the Maple Leafs scored twice in the second and took a 3-2 lead early in the third period on a power-play goal by William Nylander.

"We expected a very tight game," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "That's what it was. There was no panic, we even talked about it (after the second period). If they score it doesn't change our game. I really liked the way we handled it."

Derick Brassard scored what proved to be the winning goal on a power play at 6:26 of the third after Mike Hoffman had tied it for Ottawa at 5:32. Brassard had two goals, completing the scoring with an empty-net goal. Mark Stone also had an empty goal and added four assists.

"Stone was outstanding in all facets of the game," Boucher said.

Chris Wideman and Ryan Dzingel also scored goals and Kyle Turris added three assists for the Senators, who have won two in a row.

Morgan Rielly and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost two in a row.

Auston Matthews had two assists for Toronto.

"We had ample, ample opportunity to win the game down the stretch," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "We had lots of push at the net and we didn't score and they did. In the end when you look at the score, 6-3, you don't think it was a very good hockey game but I think it was a pretty good hockey game."

Craig Anderson made 34 saves in the Ottawa net while Frederik Andersen stopped 36 shots in the Toronto goal.

Nylander scored his 16th goal of the season from the right faceoff circle at 2:04 of the third period on a power play to put the Maple Leafs into a 3-2 lead. Zack Smith was off for hooking.

Hoffman tied the score with his 19th goal of the season, a shot from the right circle.

The Senators (31-19-6) took the lead on a power-play goal at 6:26 of the third with Brassard putting in a rebound after a shot from the point by Erik Karlsson. Kadri was serving a holding penalty.

Andersen was removed for an extra attacker with 2:25 to play and Stone scored from the Ottawa end into the empty net for his 21st goal of the season at 18:10. Brassard added another empty-net goal his 11th marker of the season.

The Maple Leafs (26-20-11) failed to capitalize when they a two-man advantage for 22 seconds in the first period when Tom Pyatt took a hooking penalty at 12:21 and Turris went off for holding at 13:59.

Ottawa scored two quick goals late in the first. Wideman drilled his fourth of the season from the top of the right circle and off a Maple Leafs defender at 17:26.

Dzingel scored his 12th of the season 20 seconds later when he redirected a shot by defenseman Marc Methot.

The Senators could not take advantage of a two-advantage in the second period when Matt Martin was given an interference penalty at 9:29 followed by a holding penalty to Zach Hyman at 9:40.

"I think we got some good energy in the second on the penalty kill and we started playing well and got into the game," Andersen said. "It was pretty emotional. We couldn't keep it going, we did a good job battling back but it's a tough one to lose."

Rielly scored his third goal of the season on a shot from near the blue line at 14:38 of the second. Kadri's 24th goal of the season of the season tied the score at 17:52 when his pass from behind the net banked in off Dzingel.

"It was a funny game a little hit," Brassard said. "They missed their 5-on-3 and we missed ours. They came back. Obviously we were expecting a push after that first period and we got one. We stuck with it, we showed a lot of character."

"I didn't really notice to be honest with you," Stone said of his five-point game. "As a team we're embracing the defensive hockey, we got some big saves from (Anderson). It's hard not to get down (after failing two score with a two-man advantage). We had one, they had one, neither team had success on it. It's tough. Obviously you lose a little bit of momentum when you don't have success on it but we bounced back."

NOTES: Toronto C Mitch Marner (right shoulder) did not play Saturday and will also miss the game Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. He was injured during the 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday. ... Maple Leafs RW Nikita Soshnikov (upper-body injury) returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the previous four games. ... Ottawa D Marc Methot (flu) returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. ... Toronto acquired C Sergey Kalinin from New Jersey for D Viktor Loov, who has been playing with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. Kalinin, who had two goals and two assists in 43 games with New Jersey, was assigned to the Marlies. ... The Maple Leafs will visit Carolina for a game tomorrow night. ... The Senators will be at home to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.