OTTAWA — Drake Batherson scored two goals in 53 seconds in a 4-3 Ottawa Senators victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Sunday evening.
Brady Tkachuk and Ryan Dzingel also scored for Ottawa (10-20-1). Joey Daccord made 33 saves on 36 shots to earn his first National Hockey League victory.
Zach Hyman scored two goals and William Nylander added another for Toronto (19-9-2). The Maple Leafs tried to come back from a 4-1 deficit with two third period goals, but their comeback fell short. Toronto now has one win in their last six games.
Michael Hutchinson started for the Maple Leafs but he was pulled from the goal after allowing two goals on three shots. Frederik Andersen played in relief and made 26 saves, but he too allowed a pair of goals.
Senators goalie Matt Murray was supposed to start in goal Sunday, but he was injured during pre-game warm-up, which led to Daccord taking his place. Despite coming in cold, he fared better than his Toronto counterparts.
Tkachuk scored the first goal of the game a little over six minutes into the game. The Leafs failed to clear the puck from their zone, leading to a turnover. Tkachuk took the puck and fired the puck in between the pads of goaltender Michael Hutchinson. The puck trickled past the red line to give the Senators a 1-0 lead.
Seven seconds later, Dzingel crept past the Leafs defence and scored to make it 2-0. The Leafs then pulled Hutchinson in favour of Andersen, who allowed five goals on 32 shots in a loss to Winnipeg Saturday night.
Senators forward Austin Watson and Maple Leafs defenceman Zach Bogosian would then exchange fisticuffs to cap off a wild 35 seconds of game action.
With 8:22 left to play in the period, Zach Hyman scored to cut the Senators’ lead in half, and the Leafs entered the first intermission down a goal.
Batherson would restore the Senators two-goal lead five minutes into the second period with a power play goal. Tim Stutzle drew in defenders before making a backhand pass to Batherson, who would bury his team’s third goal of the night.
He would add a second goal 53 seconds later.
Leafs defenceman Ilya Mikheyev thought he scored with a goal with 9:59 to go in regulation, but the goal was overturned due to goaltender interference. Hyman would eventually get his team’s second goal of the game with 5:20 to play. Nylander would have his team draw within a goal with a little over two minutes to play, but it wasn’t enough.
Toronto will return to action Friday against the Calgary Flames. Ottawa will play the second game of a back-to-back against the Vancouver Canucks.
