Maple Leafs come up small in loss to Senators, blow two-goal lead

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We might feel obliged off the top here to make a joke about turkey and stuffing in the Maple Leafs’ latest loss against a lesser team.

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A couple of nights after they celebrated Christmas, however, there really wasn’t anything funny about a 4-2 Toronto fall against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

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You would think it would not be too much to ask for the Leafs to carry momentum from a win in Columbus immediately before the three-day Christmas break, but you would be wrong.

A 2-0 lead against the worst team in the Eastern Conference, one that already has fired its general manager and coach, didn’t stand up in the latest Battle of Ontario.

“To me, the Columbus game is still fresh in my mind,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said after the morning skate. “I feel like it’s enough time away that you can get some rest and refresh, but you’re still pretty connected to what has been going on with the team. 

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“It’s not the halfway point (of the regular season), but it’s a marker on the schedule, gives you a chance to step back and breathe.”

The Leafs stifled themselves in failing to score on some good chances in the early stages, and Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo was more sharp as the game progressed. 

Ottawa has won four of its 12 road games in 2023-24. Two of those victories have come in Toronto.

There haven’t been many goals of the ugly variety against Martin Jones during his brief tenure with the Leafs. That changed in the third period.

Sens forward Drake Batherson controlled the puck deep in the offensive zone and from behind the goal line, fired it toward the net. The puck hit the back of Jones and fell over the line, providing Ottawa with a 3-2 lead at 3:44.

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It was the second Batherson goal on Wednesday that the Leafs pair of Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie watched from the ice. 

William Nylander extended his point streak to 12 games with an assist and now has a point in 29 of the Leafs’ 32 games. To be sure, we’re not looking for a silver lining in a loss to a team as poor as the Senators, because there are none. Just pointing out a couple of Nylander-related facts.

Brady Tkachuk scored into an empty Leafs net with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. 

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SECONDARY PROBLEMS

After opening a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Matthew Knies and Tyler Bertuzzi, the Leafs, as they have done at other times this season, fizzled in the second. 

With Ottawa scoring twice to tie the game 2-2 heading into the third, the Leafs have allowed a total of 38 goals in the middle period, the most they have given up in any period. 

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And for the fifth time in 2023-24, the Leafs allowed a shorthanded goal. The latest came at 10:17 of the second when Parker Kelly took a pass from Claude Giroux on a 2-on-1 and scored on Jones’ glove side. 

Just over four minutes later, Ottawa drew equal with Toronto when Batherson buried a Tim Stutzle rebound.

The two goals by the visitors ruined a good start by the Leafs, who spent most the five-on-five play in the first period in the offensive zone. But as we’ve seen many times before, the Leafs didn’t put up much resistance as a worse team worked its way back into the game.

It’s a habit, if we can refer to it as such, that Keefe has to continue to try to erase from the Leafs’ game. Then again, it shouldn’t still be happening 30-some games into the season with the new year approaching. 

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Jones faced 14 shots in the second after he had to turn away just six in the first. Auston Matthews had been credited with the Leafs’ first goal until replays showed that his shot went in off the skate of Knies. 

Bertuzzi, whose production does not properly match the one-year, $5.5 million US contract he signed with the Leafs in free agency, scored his sixth of the season and first in 13 games. The guy with the long hair and no tape on his stick has to find a way to start contributing more on the scoresheet. We’ll see if his relatively rare goal could be the start of something. 

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HELP ON THE WAY

Mark Giordano has brought a stabilizing element when he has been in the lineup, and it’s looking like he will be available to provide that again in the very near future. 

The 40-year-old defenceman has missed the past 12 games with a broken finger, an injury he suffered on Nov. 28 against the Florida Panthers.

Giordano was a full participant in the morning skate.

“He’s real close,” Keefe said. “We will get him a full practice day with the group (on Thursday) and make a decision from there.”

While the thinking could be that one of Simon Benoit or William Lagesson will come out of the lineup, Giordano was paired with Conor Timmins at the skate. It could be that the two are paired again once Giordano returns, perhaps as early as Friday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

Benoit and Lagesson have filled in nicely with injuries to Giordano, John Klingberg and Timothy Liljegren, but neither was signed to play regularly. Getting Giordano back would be a boost.

Keefe, meanwhile, had no updates on goalie Joseph Woll (high ankle sprain) and winger Ryan Reaves (lower body) other than to say neither is close to returning.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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