Matthews’ goal pace a challenge for Sens in battle with Maple Leafs

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Hope you enjoyed that Christmas cheer, Ottawa Senators. 

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The second-best National Hockey League team in Ontario gets to try to stop Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews in the latest chapter of the Battle of Ontario on Wednesday night. 

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With 14 goals in nine games before the three-day Christmas break, Matthews wasn’t being impeded much by the opposition. It’s difficult to put the NHL’s leading goalscorer in a box when he requires little time and/or space to score.

“A lot of times, you need more than one player to stop him,” Senators interim head coach Jacques Martin said after the morning skate. “You have to have an awareness of him when he is on the ice. It’s a matter of being in the right position, being on the right side of him and paying attention to some details.”

As the NHL resumes following the break, the Leafs are in second place in the Atlantic Division with 40 points, four behind division-leading Boston with a game in hand. The Senators, picked by many to contend for a playoff spot, instead have floundered and find themselves last in the Eastern Conference with 24 points. Ottawa has won just three of its 11 road games, though one of those wins came in Toronto in a 6-3 decision on Nov. 8. In the other meeting between the clubs, the Leafs won 4-3 in Ottawa on Dec. 7.

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Martin Jones will be in net for Toronto, while Joonas Korpisalo will go for Ottawa. 

When we last saw the Leafs, Matthews, who has 28 goals in 30 games, scored two goals in a 4-1 win in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Saturday. That night, the Sens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime to end a six-game losing streak. Martin is 1-2-0 in three games behind the bench since taking over after D.J. Smith was fired on Dec. 18.

“To me, the Columbus game is still fresh in my mind,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We went through some things that we liked and didn’t like from the other night that we want to continue to build on.

“From that perspective, 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.”

It’s not just Matthews that would concern the Senators. William Nylander, who has failed to record a point in just three games in 2023-24, is riding an 11-game point streak.

As much as the Leafs appreciated being away from the rink for the past three days, they’re eager to get back into game action.

“It feels like a year at this point of the year,” Max Domi said of the time off. “You get a day off and it feels great on the body. You get two, it feels even better, you get three, you feel like you’re at the start of the year again. 

“As you get older, you don’t get quite as rusty (in being away). Think the boys felt well-rested out there (at the full skate), and got ready to go this morning and it should be a good one tonight.”

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On the Leafs’ injury front, defenceman Mark Giordano is on the cusp of returning to the lineup. The 40-year-old has missed the past 11 games with a broken finger, an injury he suffered on Nov. 28 against the Florida Panthers. 

“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.”

Keefe 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. 

The projected lineups for Wednesday night:

TORONTO

FORWARDS

LW-C-RW

Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner

Tyler Bertuzzi-John Tavares-William Nylander

Nick Robertson-Max Domi-Calle Jarnkrok

Bobby McMann-David Kampf-Noah Gregor

DEFENCE

Morgan Rielly-TJ Brodie

Jake McCabe-Timothy Liljegren

Simon Benoit-William Lagesson

GOAL

Martin Jones

Ilya Samsonov

OTTAWA

FORWARDS

LW-C-RW

Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stuzle-Drake Batherson

Vladimir Tarasenko-Josh Norris-Claude Giroux

Dominik Kubalik-Ridly Greig-Angus Crookshank

Jiri Smejkal-Mark Kastelic-Parker Kelly

DEFENCE

Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub

Jakob Chychrun-Travis Hamonic

Erik Brannstrom-Jacob Bernard-Docker

GOAL

Joonas Korpisalo

Anton Forsberg

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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