Maple Leafs keep pace in Atlantic with OT victory against Senators

OTTAWA --Mark Giordano scored 3:26 into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

"It's big. Those are big goals," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "They're the type of goals that get the team to really rally and celebrate. It's a deserving moment for [Giordano], who's just come in here and done an excellent job for us."
Giordano, who had two assists, took a stretch pass from William Nylander and scored short side on Anton Forsberg.
"It was a pretty good crowd for us tonight," Giordano said. "I thought there were a lot of Leaf fans in the building. Really good atmosphere. I've noticed that since I've been here, the atmosphere in away buildings. It's pretty nice to know that wherever you play, you know you're going to get that good buzz in the building."
The Maple Leafs acquired Giordano from the Seattle Kraken on March 20, one day before the NHL Trade Deadline.
"I think he's a huge part of our team. He's a veteran," Toronto forward Michael Bunting said. "And he came in and had that veteran presence right away. He was the captain for a very long time in Calgary and then the captain in Seattle. He carries [himself] like that. He's a great add and a great guy off the ice, and he's playing unbelievable for us right now."

Mitchell Marner scored twice, Bunting had a goal and an assist, and Erik Kallgren made 25 saves for the Maple Leafs (49-20-6), who have won four of five.
Toronto is in second place in the Atlantic Division, four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who defeated the Winnipeg Jets 7-4 on Saturday.
Tim Stutzle extended his personal point streak to eight games, Michael Del Zotto had a goal and an assist, and Forsberg made 36 saves for the Senators (28-40-7).
Stutzle gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 14:14 of the first period when he one-timed a pass from Brady Tkachuk on a 2-on-0. Stutzle has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in the streak.
"He continues to get better," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "He's playing against the league's best and he's not backing down. Again, he might have been the best player out there, he's one of them. There's certainly some high- end players over there, but [he's] really coming."
Del Zotto made it 2-0 at 15:25. Kallgren stopped Del Zotto's slap shot, but the rebound went in off Toronto defenseman Timothy Liljegren.
"We didn't come out the way we wanted to," Marner said. "We knew they were going to come at us fast and try to get behind us. They did a good job of that, but I thought the second period and third period there, we kind of just took over and played the game we needed to. And we got the result we wanted."

Kyle Clifford cut it to 2-1 at 2:57 of the second period when he redirected Justin Holl's wrist shot from the top of the right circle. It was Clifford's first goal with the Maple Leafs since being acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 16.
Dylan Gambrell made it 3-1 at 10:03 when he tipped a point shot from Austin Watson, who got his 100th NHL point in his 400th game.
"When you actually take some time to think about it, it's pretty emotional for me," Watson said. "This game has given me a life that I don't know if I deserve, but I'm here anyways. I can't thank the Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators and the league enough. ... It's allowed me to live out my dreams but take care of life outside the game as well, so I just have a lot of gratitude today."
Bunting cut it to 3-2 at 11:21, finishing a centering pass from Giordano, and Marner tied it 3-3 at 18:33 with a slap shot from the right point past a screened Forsberg.
"I thought for a bit there we were outworked and outcompeted," Keefe said. "From the time they made it 3-1 though, I thought our guys really dug in from that point on and we were really good."
Stutzle scored his second goal of the game to give the Senators a 4-3 lead at 6:10 of the third period. He picked up an Ilya Lyubushkin giveaway and scored his 20th goal of the season with a snap shot.
"I just try to play my game every day and night, and I think it's working pretty good right now," Stutzle said.

Marner tied it 4-4 at 10:06 when he redirected Bunting's centering pass with his skate.
"[Auston] Matthews and Marner are some of the best players in the league," Stutzle said. "Those are the guys I love watching every night and I watch the highlights every time. They make so many nice plays together and they play with so much confidence. Those are two guys I try to mold my game after, and playing against them I think gives me a huge push."
NOTES:Ottawa forward Colin White was a late scratch when he was placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol. Victor Mete, a defenseman, took his place at forward. … Marner has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in his past 16 games. … Bunting has 61 points to tie Marner and Nylander for the fourth-most by a Maple Leafs rookie. Matthews is first with 69. Bunting is the sixth Toronto player with at least 60 points this season (Matthews, Marner, John Tavares, Nylander, Morgan Rielly). Only two teams in the past 25 years have had six players with that many (Buffalo Sabres, seven, 2006-07; New York Rangers, six, 2000-01). … Giordano (38 years, 195 days) is the oldest player in Maple Leafs history to score an overtime goal (Art Duncan, 38 years, 170 days, Dec. 21, 1929). … Toronto won the season series 3-1-0 (Ottawa was 1-2-1).