Maple Leafs stop Senators in OT

The Ottawa Senators now have 10 overtime or shootout losses on the season, and Saturday’s 2-1 loss in OT to the Toronto Maple Leafs may well be one of the most heartbreaking of the lot.

Jason Spezza scored for the Maple Leafs in regulation – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

Mitchell Marner struck for the winner with 1:06remaining on the clock.

“I don’t think anyone really thinks I’m going to shoot that,” Marner said. “The first passes I got, I looked at the net and saw a little bit of a lane and then the third pass I got I decided to try to get it to the net with John Tavares in front. Luckily it went in.”

Michael Hutchinson made 24 saves to get the win.

“I thought we stayed with it,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We knew it was going to be a hard game and it was, they played extremely hard and credit to them for the plan they put in place. On back-to-back games for them, it was clear how important this game was to them, but it was important to us as well.”

Mark Borowiecki scored the Sens lone goal.

“It was an interesting game, a little bit different style than what we’re typically used to,” Borowiecki said. “They play an interesting way, really try to hog the puck out there and hang on to it so you get some different looks, but I thought we adapted pretty well and played them tight.”

Jason Spezza scored for the Leafs in regulation.

“I felt good. It was a tight game, so it was good to make some plays, but it was good to contribute,” Spezza said. “My whole life I’ve been told I have to shoot the puck more, so I just took what was there. They shaded off me there and I was able to get a good look after [Rasmus] Sandin did a good job getting it over to me quick.”

[WATCH: All Senators vs. Maple Leafs highlights]

Craig Anderson made 34 saves in the loss.

“It was a pretty exciting game to be a part of,” Anderson said. “I think the fans enjoyed it and there was a lot of energy in the building. That’s a team you can’t trade chances with, they’ve got too much firepower and I thought we did a good job though limiting the amount of chances we gave up. They gave up some chances and we just weren’t able to capitalize on it.”