Tonight was the second half of the home and home against the Ottawa Senators for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After falling 3-2 to their provincial rivals yesterday afternoon, tonight’s roster was looking to not only shake the rust off from the summer but get even and pick up their first win of the preseason.
It was announced earlier today on X that Toronto’s lineup was going to be different compared to their roster from yesterday’s game. Tonight’s lineup featured Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Tyler Bertuzzi, among some other NHL regulars.
The @MapleLeafs roster for tonight’s preseason game versus Ottawa at @ScotiabankArena. pic.twitter.com/fRaQ5tyYCI
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) September 25, 2023
First period:
Similar to yesterday’s game, the Maple Leafs didn’t start the game right on time compared to their opponent, but this time, they generated more chances than they did in yesterday’s first period.
Ottawa jumped out to an early 1-0 lead from a goal by Roby Jarventie as Topi Niemela tried to clear the puck out of the defensive zone but turned it over in the middle of the ice. Soon after, recently drafted Easton Cowan was hauled down and awarded a penalty shot but was denied his first goal of the preseason.
After trading a couple of chances after that, the Senators took a 2-0 lead as Dominik Kubalik tipped home a point shot with no one there to box him out from in front of the net.
Down 2-0 and creating some chances, the Maple Leafs finally found the scoresheet as Cowan was left alone in the slot and buried home his first goal after not scoring on his earlier penalty shot.
EASTON COWAN 🚨
tic-tac-toe pic.twitter.com/ISJzaUPbWf
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 25, 2023
After cutting the lead in half and trying to push for the tying goal, the Maple Leafs took a penalty and allowed Jakob Chychrun to score which put them down by two goals again. However, soon after, a point shot by Topi Niemela got redirected home by Joseph Blandisi and helped them cut the lead in half again.
Blandisi gets one back for the Leafs pic.twitter.com/5lQRUwDMpm
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 25, 2023
Second period:
The second period didn’t start quite how the first period did despite both teams creating more scoring chances just like they did through the first 20 minutes.
At the midway point of the second period with the score still 3-2 for Ottawa, Martin Jones came into the game for Joseph Woll so he could play the remaining 30 minutes.
After the goalie change, we didn’t see any goals from either team, and the Maple Leafs ended the second period how they ended the first, down by one goal.
Third period:
After what was a goal-scoring fest in the first, goals were hard to come by in the second period and pretty much through the entire third period despite many scoring chances by both teams.
Easton Cowan continued his brilliant night and honestly could’ve had himself another goal or two in the final 20 minutes, but Sogaard had the answer to them.
Both teams traded chances back and forth, but it wasn’t until the final 30 seconds when Cowan drew a penalty and put his team on the power play with a chance to tie the game and potentially force overtime.
After a couple more chances – including Matthews getting robbed back door – Marner potted home the tying goal with just under five seconds remaining to give the fans some extra hockey.
Mitch Marner ties it with 4.9 seconds left pic.twitter.com/k4phP6A1x1
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 26, 2023
Overtime period:
Although the Maple Leafs tied the game with just seconds remaining in the game to force overtime, they came up short and couldn’t complete the comeback win as Jakob Chychrun netted his second of the night to give his team their second win of the preseason and the sweep of the home and home against their rival.
Highlight of the night:
The highlight of the night was honestly anything Easton Cowan did. He had an excellent debut in the preseason despite missing his penalty shot earlier in the first period. He finished the game with one goal, one assist, four shots, one hit, a couple of forced turnovers and was just all around the puck.
The Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner line also had some good moments tonight as well. They only combined for two points – both coming on the power-play goal to tie the game and force overtime – but had flashes of what we could see during the regular season. The chemistry between Matthews and Marner is still there, but they couldn’t capitalize on more chances.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action Wednesday night in St. Thomas as they play the Buffalo Sabres at Joe Thornton Community Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 pm ET on Sportsnet One.
