Leafs Insider
Senators-Maple Leafs Preview
GAME: Ottawa Senators (40-22-9-6) at Toronto Maple Leafs (42-24-9-3).
TIME: Saturday, 7 p.m. EST.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will finally get a break from playing first-place teams.
Their next opponent, however, is one of the best clubs in the NHL.
The Leafs and Ottawa Senators continue their battle for first place in the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference lead, when they play the first of two meetings in the next eight days.
The Boston Bruins lead Toronto in the division by one point, with Ottawa lurking one point behind the Leafs. Tampa Bay has a three-point lead over Philadelphia for the top spot in the conference, with the Leafs five back and the Senators six behind the Lightning.
Toronto's brutal stretch of schedule continued Thursday night with a matchup against first-place Boston. The Leafs' last five opponents have all been division leaders, and they improved to 3-2 in those games with a 3-0 road win over the Bruins.
Toronto got goals from 41-year-old Ron Francis and 37-year-old Joe Nieuwendyk, while 38-year-old Ed Belfour posted his eighth shutout of the season as the Leafs won for the fourth time in six games.
"Our veteran players shored up their game," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "We were disciplined and did the simple things we hadn't been doing recently."
Nieuwendyk thinks Belfour's experience should help the Leafs in their drive to end a 36-year Stanley Cup drought.
"I've played with him a long time and been through a few wars with him," said Nieuwendyk, who won the Stanley Cup with Belfour when they played for the Dallas Stars in 1999.
Ottawa got back on track in its last outing, beating Montreal 4-0 on the road Thursday to snap a two-game losing streak. The win was just the Senators' second in six games.
Daniel Alfredsson scored his 30th and 31st goals and added an assist, and Patrick Lalime made 29 saves to lead Ottawa.
"Tonight, I was able to get in the right place at the right time," said Alfredsson, who matched his career high of 78 points set last season.
Peter Bondra added two assists for the Senators, but was held without a goal for a ninth straight game. He has four goals and eight assists in 18 games since being acquired from the Washington Capitals.
"I'm looking for the keys - can you find the keys for my hands?" Bondra said jokingly. "The chances are there. Hopefully, it will come at the right time."
The Leafs and Senators meet again next Saturday in Ottawa - the regular season finale for both clubs.
— Associated Press
More Head-To-Head Statistics
TEAM Home Win % Road Win % W L T OTL Points HOME ROAD
Ottawa 0.7 0.527 40 22 9 6 95 23-7-5-5 17-15-4-1
Toronto 0.59 0.641 42 24 9 3 96 21-14-2-2 21-10-7-1
Meetings This Year
Date Location Score (click for game recap)
Nov 29, 2003 Toronto at Ottawa Maple Leafs, 2 - Senators, 1
Jan 8, 2004 Ottawa at Toronto Senators, 7 - Maple Leafs, 1
Jan 31, 2004 Ottawa at Toronto Senators, 1 - Maple Leafs, 5
Feb 5, 2004 Toronto at Ottawa Maple Leafs, 5 - Senators, 4
Mar 27, 2004 Ottawa at Toronto 7:00 PM EST
Apr 3, 2004 Toronto at Ottawa 7:00 PM
Leafs Gain Two Points On Bruins
» Scoring | Statistics
» March 25, 2004
BOSTON (AP) -- Ed Belfour posted his eighth shutout of the season and the Toronto Maple Leafs cut Boston's lead in the Northeast Division to one point with a 3-0 victory over the Bruins on Thursday night.
Nieuwendyk had his 19th of the season Thursday.
(Dave Sandford/Getty Images/NHLI)
Toronto got goals from Joe Nieuwendyk and Ron Francis in the first nine minutes of the second period and an empty-net goal from Nik Antropov with 1:43 left in the game.
Belfour made 33 saves, the same amount he had in his last game, a 7-2 loss Tuesday night to Tampa Bay. The Bruins suffered their 10th shutout of the season. Eight have come at home, breaking the team record of six set in 1951-52.
Toronto has 96 points with four-regular season games left in the tight Eastern Conference race. Boston, with 97, has five games remaining.
Nieuwendyk scored his fifth goal in nine games and 19th of the season from just outside the crease on a rebound after goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped a shot by Antropov.
Francis scored his first goal since being acquired by Toronto on March 9 from Carolina. He connected at 8:40 on a soft shot from 15 feet in front of the net that just got by defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Raycroft. It was Francis' 11th goal of the season and his 137th point in 130 games against the Bruins.
The Bruins lost for just the second time in 10 games (7-2-1) and had beaten Tampa Bay and Ottawa, two strong Eastern Conference teams, in their previous two games, both at home.
The Maple Leafs came back from a 2-1 loss to Boston nine days earlier and are 4-2 in their last six games.
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