By Canadian Press

Mark Giordano sends Maple Leafs past Senators 5-4 in overtime

Apr 16, 2022 | 7:25 PM

OTTAWA — Mark Giordano scored the overtime winner Saturday night as Toronto beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 to the delight of the numerous Maple Leafs fans on hand at Canadian Tire Centre.

It may have been a Senators home game, but the majority of the 18,655 on hand were cheering for the visitors and were thrilled with the final result.

Mitchell Marner had two goals with Michael Bunting and Kyle Clifford also scoring for Toronto (49-20-6). Erik Kallgren stopped 25 shots.

Tim Stutzle led the Senators (28-40-7) with two goals, while Michael Del Zotto and Dylan Gambrell also chipped in. Anton Forsberg made 36 saves. 

Stutzle broke a 3-3 tie at the six-minute mark of the third, taking advantage of a terrible giveaway by Ilya lyubushkin to bury his 20th of the season and second of the game.

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Stutzle has six goals and seven assists through his last eight games. 

Marner made it 4-4, scoring his second of the game at the midway mark of the period. 

Trailing 2-0 to start the second, the Leafs came back to tie things 3-3 after 40 minutes. 

Clifford opened the scoring for Toronto as he tipped Justin Holl’s shot for his first of the season. 

Ottawa took a 3-1 lead midway through the second as Austin Watson fired a shot through traffic and Gambrell tipped it past Kallgren. The assist gave Watson his 100th career point in his 400th NHL game. 

Toronto made it a one-goal game just over a minute later as Bunting was able to jam home a puck from in close and Marner tied the game late in the period as he one-timed T.J. Brodie’s drop pass from the top of the faceoff circle.

The Senators couldn’t have asked for a better start jumping out to a 2-0 first-period lead. 

On a two-on-zero rush Brady Tkachuk passed the puck to Stutzle through the slot, who one-timed it home to open scoring.

Del Zotto made it 2-0 late in the period with a shot from the blue line that popped over Timothy Liljegren and in. 

NOTES: Ottawa’s Colin White was placed in COVID-19 protocol prior to the game forcing defenceman Victor Mete into action, but as a forward …Mathieu Joseph remains out of the lineup and may not be able to return before the end of the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2022.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press