Senators hold off Maple Leafs, win 3rd straight

OTTAWA -- Shane Pinto had a goal and two assists, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

“I think it was a good team effort,” Pinto said. “I think all four lines played the right way, and we just stuck together and then just found a way to win. It was a good win.”

Joonas Korpisalo made 32 saves for the Senators (21-25-2), who won their third straight game. They hadn’t played since Jan. 31.

“I thought we were slow off the mark," Ottawa interim coach Jacques Martin said. "But I think that’s kind of expected after being off for [nine] days and not having played. I think Toronto took advantage of that, but I liked how we finished the first period. I thought we gained some momentum. I thought we engaged a lot more. We started to be more physical. We started to control the puck in the offensive zone, and I think that helped our play.”

Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 42nd goal, Matthew Knies had a goal and an assist, and Mitchell Marner had two assists for the Maple Leafs (26-16-8), who had won four of five. Martin Jones made 28 saves in his first start since Jan. 20.

“As a team, I thought we were really good at times,” Jones said. “There were some stretches in the game where we handed them a little bit of offense. And they’re a good team, they’re a good offensive group, so they’re going to make plays, and they were able to finish on a couple.”

Matthews, who also had an assist, gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 3:45 of the first period with a sharp-angled shot off a pass from Marner during a delayed penalty. The goal extended his point streak to nine games (15 points; nine goals, six assists).

The Maple Leafs thought they’d taken a 2-0 lead at 7:59 when Max Domi tapped in a centering pass, but the Senators challenged for offside, and the call on the ice was overturned.

“We missed a ton of chances. We probably could have scored more than we did tonight,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “And we didn’t. So, we lose the game.”

Claude Giroux tied it 1-1 at 17:53. He corralled a rebound in front, waited out Jones and scored with a backhand.

“I think, obviously, we don’t get as frustrated as we used to,” Giroux said about dealing with momentum shifts. “We just know that if we play our game and if we’re consistent in what we’re doing, good things are going to happen. It’s a good team at the other side, but we were able to play a good 50 minutes.”

Vladimir Tarasenko gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 2:04 of the second period when he took a pass from Pinto at Toronto’s blue line and scored on a breakaway.

“We gave up too much in transition,” Keefe said. “That’s what they do very well, probably better than any team in the NHL. We fed into that.”

Knies tied it 2-2 at 9:43 by tipping in Marner's point shot.

Pinto put the Senators back in front 3-2 at 11:13 when tipped in Parker Kelly's point shot.

Josh Norris pushed it to 4-2 at 15:13. He knocked down a Toronto clearing attempt, carried the puck into the left face-off circle and scored with a wrist shot to the far side.

“I thought we played a good game, obviously coming off the (NHL All-Star) break,” Norris said. “It wasn’t perfect at the start, but I think it’s just the maturity that we’ve shown the last stretch of games, so it’s good to get the win tonight."

Domi cut it to 4-3 at 5:12 of the third period, scoring with a one-timer off Morgan Rielly's feed from below the goal line. It was his first goal in 10 games.

“They’re an offensive team, for sure. That’s definitely their strength,” Domi said. “They’ve got a lot of talent, transition the puck pretty well. But their weakness is probably more in their own zone, and we tried to attack that as much as we could. Like I said, we did a lot of good things, but there’s some things we could’ve done better.”

Ridly Greig scored into an empty net at 19:54 for the 5-3 final.

NOTES: Matthews and Marner factored into the same goal for the 208th and 209th time, tying Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler for the most by two teammates in Maple Leafs history. … Marner has six points (two goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Toronto center John Tavares’ three-game goal streak ended. … Ottawa was 0-for-3 on the power play. Toronto did not have a man-advantage. … Senators forward Brady Tkachuk had his three-game goal streak end.