The Battle of Ontario is tilted in the Ottawa Senators’ favour.
Ottawa defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Tuesday evening, sweeping the two-game preseason series. Alex Steeves opened the scoring, firing a puck speculatively towards the net after a chaotic faceoff sequence but that was all the offence the Maple Leafs could muster. Jake Sanderson — the best player on the ice Tuesday — responded back for the Senators, before Zack Ostapchuk notched the game-winner directly off a giveaway from Leafs defenceman Nicolas Mattinen.
The results ultimately don’t matter too much but the Maple Leafs were seeking a victory in Ottawa, coming off a 6-5 overtime loss on Sunday where Ottawa’s 2024 first-rounder Carter Yakemchuk notched a sensational winner.
The @MapleLeafs roster for tonight’s preseason game in Ottawa. pic.twitter.com/gUYcPQq8jt
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) September 24, 2024
Here are four takeaways from the Senators’ 2-1 victory over the Maple Leafs.
Anthony Stolarz appears ready for tandem duty with stellar performance
Stolarz may end up becoming the most popular player in the Maple Leafs’ locker room, having made friends at various stops, but he may be equally beloved for his on-ice performance. Again, this was his first preseason start, so it’s just a matter of getting reps in but Stolarz looked every bit the part of an NHL goalie primed for more volume.
The 30-year-old made nine saves in the first period, including a series of stops where he absolutely robbed Senators forward Ridly Greig. Earlier in the frame, Stolarz moved well laterally to get a pad on a David Perron one-timer that was heading towards the low corner.
Stolarz look steady so far pic.twitter.com/OqVXJrjHu3
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 24, 2024
back-to-back pad saves by Stolarz pic.twitter.com/0Np8deJnsn
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 24, 2024
Stolarz finished with 15 saves on 16 attempts during an evening where the Senators elected to play many of their headlining stars. It was a terrific, understated performance but Stolarz may have been outdone by his successor.
Dennis Hildeby robs Brady Tkachuk for the save of the preseason
It’s more than likely that Dennis Hildeby is the odd man out from the Maple Leafs’ goaltender rotation, but he will be on highlight reels throughout September after making the save of the preseason. Hildeby took over for Stolarz midway through the second period and promptly robbed Senators captain Brady Tkachuk of a surefire goal.
Hildeby robbery! pic.twitter.com/CFKksOT5hF
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 25, 2024
As the Maple Leafs collapsed upon Tim Stutzle, sending two defenders, Tkachuk was left wide-open as Simon Benoit dove in vain to break up the pass. Tkachuk thought he was walking away with an easy goal but Hildeby stretched out wide and appeared to get a stick on the shot. It was an impressive moment from Toronto’s ascending goaltender, who was listed 18th on Daily Faceoff’s Top 25 NHL-affiliated goaltender prospects list in September. It may not affect his chances of making the roster, but Hildeby is showing why he’s considered a valuable asset by Maple Leafs’ management, and why he could eventually develop into a bona fide NHL starter.
Craig Berube singled out the goaltending in his post-game interview and Hildeby deserves his flowers.
Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin’s underwhelming performances highlighted by key mistake
Easton Cowan was afforded an in-game promotion during Sunday’s loss and he was asked to effectively slow the game down when he had the puck ahead of Tuesday’s contest. Cowan was once again paired alongside Nikita Grebenkin for most of Tuesday’s contest and while it wasn’t a terrible performance, it may have been defined by one key defensive mistake.
“He did some good things,” Berube said of Cowan’s Sunday performance via TSN’s Mark Masters. “He’s a very good player. There’s a couple of situations where maybe he could have made a different decision with the puck than he did, but overall I was pretty pleased with his effort and what he did in the game.”
no goals but I thought this was a good PP sequence pic.twitter.com/mfetZvJoWI
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 25, 2024
Cowan was better with the puck on Tuesday, particularly on zone entries and finding his teammates for clear shooting lanes on the power play. Unfortunately, both Cowan and Grebenkin’s games would be best remembered for a critical first period mistake.
During a defensive zone sequence, Cowan’s stick broke and hell broke loose. In an effort to compensate for Cowan, Grebenkin dropped way too deep into his zone while Cowan watched the puck swing around helplessly as Jake Sanderson was given all the room in the world to wire a laser past a helpless Stolarz.
That was a pretty rough defensive shift for Grebenkin.
— Nick Richard (@_NickRichard) September 24, 2024
Cowan and Grebenkin have arguably been the two headliners in camp but neither could elevate their games Tuesday. Alongside Logan Show, their line combined for a paltry seven percent of the expected goals, albeit in a three-minute small sample, while both Cowan and Grebenkin generated one shot each. Both players will likely be afforded another look on Thursday, but the game needs to slow down for both of them, and you can see why Cowan has been asked to shed some habits that were developed by dominating the major junior circuit last season.
Bobby McMann’s speed and opportunism stand out for the Maple Leafs
McMann is in pole position to start the season alongside John Tavares and his outstanding speed and acceleration were notable on Tuesday evening. He led Toronto with six shots — five coming at 5-on-5 — while constantly carving his way into high-danger scoring areas. McMann almost scored a spectacular short-handed goal with one hand on his stick as he blew past Zack Ostapchuk and Nick Cousins en route to the net.
McMann charges down-ice shorthanded pic.twitter.com/FeK9QWn0WH
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 25, 2024
Since his breakout game in February against the St. Louis Blues, McMann has been an entirely different player with his speed and increasing confidence as his governing qualities. McMann drew two rebounds and a penalty as well, he did all the small things well and it’ll be compelling to see how his traits in the open ice pair with Tavares, who still creates havoc net-front at an elite rate.
