KANATA, Ont. — Alexander Kerfoot has been a Toronto Maple Leaf long enough to know the rebuilding Ottawa Senators refuse to surrender free points to their provincial rivals.
He understood the 40-point standings gap between the two clubs would not translate on the ice, no matter how many fans supporting the playoff-bound side trekked hours east along the 401 in attempt to turn Saturday into a bonus home game.
“They’ve played us well since I’ve been on this team,” said Kerfoot, before his team salvaged a 5-4 overtime decision at Canadian Tire Centre. “They’ve got a lot of skill up front. A younger team that’s playing every game down the stretch with nothing to lose
“We know they’ll be up for it. If we’re not ready to go, they can take it to us.”
That they did in the opening period.
Sure, the Maple Leafs controlled the run of play. But they also failed to cash in on their power plays for the fourth consecutive game and surrendered the night’s best chance when Justin Holl and T.J. Brodie both got caught deep.
Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle charged the other way on a 2-on-0, and the 20-year-old German finished with flare, flying into the end glass in celebration of the night’s first strike:
A Michael Del Zotto point blast doubled the Sens lead, taking the mostly blue and white crowd out of it.
“We don’t want to hand anyone anything,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said beforehand. “You’re not just gonna come in and walk all over us. Our effort will be there.
“We want to be known as that – you’ll never get a freebie against us.”
Toronto rallied in a much more entertaining second period, with a trio of goals from Kyle Clifford (his first of the season), a resurgent Michael Bunting and a snipe by Mitch Marner.
Ottawa got one more from Dylan Grambrell, setting the stage at 3-3 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Stützle pounced on a sloppy own-zone giveaway by Ilya Lyubushkin and snapped his second past Erik Källgren to restore the lead, his 20th of the season.
But Marner’s second of the night — a greasy, crash-the-crease marker — tied the game again and riled the crowd, which erupted into “Go! Leafs! Go!” chants.
Mark Giordano scored home the overtime winner, capping a three-point night.
All but cemented into the Atlantic Division’s second seed, the Maple Leafs will zip home to play the second half of their Easter weekend back-to-back Sunday against the lottery-bound New York Islanders.
Fox’s Fast 5
• Former Islanders captain John Tavares said Mike Bossy (rest in peace) was a tremendous person and was of great support to him, particularly in his first few years in the Show.
“(He) just loved the game and loved to talk hockey and, specifically, goal scoring,” Tavares recalled. “If not the best, he was one of the best at it and was part of one of the best dynasties in NHL history and had a remarkable career.
“It was cool for me to talk to him about what made him a great player and how he saw the game. Those are the things that you cherish most and that always stick with you.”
• The Maple Leafs’ power play has been blanked in its past 17 opportunities, with a shorthanded goal against.
“Last three games (it) hasn’t been good, but before that we were running at 42 per cent over an eight-game segment,” Keefe countered. “Let’s not get too carried away with it not going well for a little bit.”
• A smiling William Nylander at least has a sense of humour about his career-worst and team-worst dash-15: “I was joking with some of the guys. I say, ‘If you guys want a minus, come play with me.’”
• Senators coach D.J. Smith is flattered to hear his name kicked around as a candidate to be behind Team Canada’s bench at next month’s world championships in Finland.
“If I can get the opportunity, I’ll certainly be available,” Smith said. “We’ll see what happens here. I’ve never been to the world championships.”
• Keefe and Raptors head coach Nick Nurse were texting playoff well wishes to each other Friday. They stay in touch, and Keefe uses Nurse as a resource for coaching in this market.
“It’s definitely an exciting time to be a sports fan in Toronto, no question,” said Keefe, who’s also keeping tabs on the Blue Jays.
“There’s been lots of reasons for us to pay attention and follow along and try to learn what we can from (the Raptors), but also just to see the excitement they’ve been able to generate for our city.”
