In Toronto, Evgenii Dadonov picked up his second goal of the game at the most opportune time when he potted the game-winner in extra time to send the Ottawa Senators to a 6-5 win over the Maple Leafs.
His first goal of the game tied the game at 5-5, forcing extra time.
“It’s hockey so anything can happen,” Dadonov said. “But it’s good. So we didn’t stop playing. We just played shift to shift and score goal by goal. You didn’t really think about [the score]. [Rielly’s shot hit me] somewhere in the pants. I play a lot, and sometimes you get into a position behind the goalie and you try to stop some shots.”
Ottawa had trailed in the game by four goals before rally to up end the Leafs.
“It’s discouraging and definitely a step back for us,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought we were just really careless and sloppy with the puck. It’s something that’s been creeping into our game. It wasn’t everybody, but it was enough guys that we gave the game to them at a time where they really had nothing happening. They only got what we gave them.”
Marcus Hogberg made 34 saves in the win that saw the Sens come back from a 5-1 Toronto advantage.
Auston Matthews continued his torrid pace with a pair of strikes for the Leafs.
Joe Thornton had a goal in his return to the lineup.
“A new day tomorrow,” Thornton said. “I’m sure we’ll look at some film tomorrow, work on some stuff and be ready for Wednesday.”
Travis Boyd and Pierre Engvall also had goals for Toronto.
Connor Brown, Nick Paul scored, and Artem Zub gave the Sens life when he made the deficit, 3-5.
“Getting that goal, all of a sudden you’re thinking, ‘Oh boy, maybe there’s a chance,'” Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith said. “And then we capitalized on our chances. There’s been a lot of games we’ve played well or better than the other team and should win. Tonight’s not one of those nights, but it was due to come our way.”
Drake Batherson scored for Ottawa when he cut the Maple Leafs advantage to 2-1.
“When we got the fourth one, you could see the bench going, ‘Wow, we’re in this,'” Smith said. “It’s hard to believe when you’re down the way we were. And then all of a sudden, we got our legs, and that’s what momentum does.”
Frederik Andersen made 25 saves in the loss.
“It’s as bad as I’d felt about a 5-2 lead as probably I ever had,” Keefe said. “We had a talk as a team about cleaning things up for the third period. I thought we were in the right frame of mind, but giving up a shorthanded goal makes it tougher than it needs to be.”
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