OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) Shane Pinto had a goal and two assists and the Ottawa Senators beat Toronto 5-3 on Saturday night in a game that ended with Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly cross-checking Ridly Greig for firing a slap shot into an empty net.
Claude Giroux, Vladimir Tarasenko and Josh Norris also scored for Ottawa in its return from a 10-day break. Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves.
Greig scored with 5.1 seconds left, racing down the middle and firing a slap shot from short range into the empty net. As the Ottawa player headed back up the boards towards the bench, Reilly hit him high with the cross-check.
āWe obviously didnāt like the result on the empty-netter,ā Toronto captain John Tavares said. āSo, weāre going to stick together and stand our ground when necessary.ā
Reilly was given a major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct. Toronto sent out enforcer Ryan Reaves for the final faceoff, but the officials quickly jumped in to prevent a brawl.
āYou never really know what Greigerās going to do,ā Norris said. āI mean, I love it, but Iām sure, obviously, if weāre on the other side of that I donāt know if we would like it either. I didnāt really like the retaliation, but I understand their frustration, but itās over with and I guess it was entertaining.ā
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 42nd goal for Toronto. Matthew Knies and Max Domi also scored and Martin Jones stopped 27 shots.
āWe missed a ton of chances. We probably couldāve scored more than we did tonight,ā Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. said āAnd we didnāt. So, we lose the game.ā
Pinto gave Ottawa a 3-2 lead midway through second on a tip, and Norris scored with 4:47 left in the period. Domi pulled Toronto within a goal early in the third.
āI thought it was a really good effort,ā Senators interim coach Jacques Martin said. āI thought we were slow off the mark, but I think thatās kind of expected after being off for 10 days and not having played.ā
UP NEXT
Senators: Host Columbus on Tuesday night.
Maple Leafs: Host St. Louis on Tuesday night.
---
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.