BoOBbB 4

Yes, the tradition continues over here as we present another edition of the Battle of Ontario Blow by Blow. This is the 4th contest between these two teams this season; the Leafs have won the first and third meetings in regulation and the Sens won the second game by a shoot-out.

The game begins with a video montage honouring Luke Richardson. I don't really understand why. I guess they've already honoured Brad Marsh several times by now. Tonight's game is in Ottawa and it seems like a good crowd early on, meaning - lots of noise from Leaf fans is going to keep grumpy Sens fans from getting their usual peaceful sedation.

Joseph starts in goal for the Maple Leafs, which is terrific since my post earlier today was specifically and entirely about Toskala. The Vesa remains as elusive and unpredictable as ever.

First Period

19:30 Van Ryn back in the line up, on the ice in the first minute.

19:00 Antro has the first chance and misses wide.

17:30 Mayers with a good hit behind the net. First physical contact of the game.

17:00-16:30 Sens with pressure. Cujo makes 2 saves.

15:00 Stajan, Poni, and Antro battle for the puck as it goes through the crease, but don't score.

14:10 Kaberle on the ice. First time I've noticed him. Welcome back, Tomas.

13:21 GOAL!! Mayers scores on a 2-on-1 with May. Jamal takes a nice neutral zone feed from Mitchell, and shoots a knuckleball gloveside that fools Elliott. Kaberle with the other assist.

8:40 Mitchell with a close chance off the outside of the post. The last 4 minutes, there's been a few shots but no real good chances and not a single good body check that I've seen.

7:50 Stapleton with a nifty tip on a Jason Blake shot, save Elliott.

7:20 Antro starts a good chance by curling into the slot for a shot on goal. Stajan bangs away at the rebound, and then Van Ryn puts it over the empty net from just outside the crease.

5:00 A long, long, long shift for Jason Blake ends when he fires the puck from a mile out and hits Elliott in the stomach who hangs on for a whistle. After a commercial break, Blake is back on the ice again.

4:32 GOAL!! Moore wins a battle for the puck behind the net and gets the puck to Blake. His shot is stopped, but Stapleton and Spezza both poke at the puck and it goes in. Stapleton gets credit for the goal, from Blake and Moore.

1:40 Spezza tries to jam it in from behind the net, then Heatley misses wide. All the play has been on the outside. Sens don't seem willing to battle through the middle to the net.

0:30 Stajan sets up Kubina for a nice shot, but the rebound leads to a rush for the Sens the other way. Nothing comes of that, and soon the period ends.

2-0 Leafs after 1. Not much pressure from the Senators. Their defence can't make a pass to save their lives so the forwards try to carry every rush up the ice and never drop it back. So far, not a very interesting game, despite the 2 goals for the Leafs.

Second Period

19:32 Goal. Sens score. Spezza behind the net, feeds Shannon. It's 2-1. Heatley gets a phantom assist.

18:30 Joseph's eyes tell me he means business tonight.

18:06 Penalty. The first call of the game goes against Grabovski in the Leafs' zone for holding.

17:10 Alfie in the slot, stopped by Cujo. Huge save on the penalty kill.

16:06 Penalty ends. Alfie's chance was the only good one.

15:27 Goal. It's 2-2. Sens again. Comrie gets the puck to the net and Ruutu bangs it in. Weak defensive coverage by Kaberle. I never even saw Donovan on the ice tonight, but he gets an assist on this goal somehow, along with Comrie.

14:00 Sens carry the play. Leafs seem surprisingly disinterested.

13:50 One-on-one, Fisher vs. Schenn, and Schenn dominates.

12:10 Good save Joseph. Sens still carrying the play.

10:30 Nice give-and-go by Antro and Poni leads to a good chance and then a HUGE goalmouth scramble, but no luck.

10:15 Volchenkov hits Mayers.

9:45 Mitchell almost has a chance in the slot but that dirty weasel Spezza hooks him. Leafs go to their first powerplay of the game.

8:30 Kubina wrist shot stopped.

7:45 Penalty ends without much pressure.

6:10 Van Ryn and Frogren cough up the puck in the Leafs' zone and the Sens get sustained pressure.

5:10 Blake and Moore try to settle things down by retreating in the neutral zone, but Ottawa is much more aggressive this period and keeps forechecking.

4:33 Moore draws Heatley into coincidental minors. Slashing and roughing. Might have been the Leafs best shift of the period, but that really isn't saying much. 4-on-4 for two minutes.

3:20 Grabbo shot nearly gets away from Elliott.

2:50 Blake breakaway! Stoned!

2:20 Alfie carries the puck for really the first time in the game and the fans finally get a chance to boo.

1:50 Stajan and Poni combine for a chance, and Poni's shot is stopped. Leafs suddenly seem much more enthusiastic.

1:40 Penalty. Sens get called for Too Many Men, an entirely ironic situation.

0:50 Leafs powerplay only has Kaberle on the point and 4 forwards? Stempniak is out there, but he's down low, in front of the net.

0:10 Antro makes a nice rush and passes to Stempniak for a shot, right on, no rebound.

The 2nd period comes to a close. The Leafs seemingly in control after 20 minutes, have let the Senators back in this game by not matching their intensity. No desire for physical play from either team. So far Joseph has been as good as he needs to be. He shouldn't have to stand on his head to beat the Senators.

Third Period

18:55 Stajan with some nice work along the boards leads to a shot for Luke Schenn.

17:30 Solid "Go! Leafs! Go!" chant. Sloppy play continues.

15:40 A chance for the Leafs, but Poni can't bang in the rebound.

15:34 Goal. A 2-on-1 immediately after the other way, and Alfie fires the puck past Joseph. 3-2, Sens. Fisher with the assist.

15:00 Smith gives Kulemin a stick in the face, no call.

13:40 Stajan is stopped, point blank, by Elliott.

13:30 Sens blow a 3-on-1 and don't really get a quality chance before the net is knocked off.

12:30 Senators chance just misses. Comrie with a tricky shot, glances off Cujo's shoulder.

11:50 Spezza, sharp angle. stopped.

11:00 Poni with a chance in front, has a bouncing puck bounce off him and on top of the net.

10:00 Joseph makes a big save on a point blank shot from Winchester.

8:30 Fisher checks Kaberle and knocks him off the puck, but Kabby battles back, retrieves the puck from Fisher, and clears the zone.

7:30 Antro goes to the bench looking hurt. Took a 2-hander off the back of the shoulder.

7:00 Mitchell has a good chance on a 2-on-1 with Grabbo, decides to take the shot, and misses wide.

6:30 Awww Yeah. Spezza hooks Schenn. Leaf powerplay.

6:05 Kabby to Blake cross-ice pass doesn't quite connect. Could've been a good scoring opportunity.

5:30 Kabby with a dangerous shot down low. Save made, Elliott.

5:20 Antro back on the ice.

5:12 GOAL!! Kubina! Shot from the point ties the game on the powerplay. Way to go, Spezza! Antro with the assist on a nice cross-ice pass.

5:00 5 minutes to go, game tied 3-3. This is what Saturday nights are all about.

3:50 Crowd is super-loud. Moore, Blake, Stapleton on the ice.

3:10 Van Ryn takes a puck off the ankle and goes to the bench in pain.

2:00 Nice play by White at the offensive blue-line and the Leafs get a chance and hold the pressure.

0:40 Sens try to pressure. but can't get near the net.Volchenkov's shot is blocked by Schenn.

0:00 The 3rd period ends. Shots are 37-32 for the Leafs, who are headed to their sixth straight overtime. 

Overtime

5:00 4-on-4 Stajan and Antropov start for Toronto.

4:27 GOAL!! A broken play on a 3-on-2 one way and two Senators fall, giving the Leafs a 3-on-2 the other way. White leads the rush with Stajan going to the net and makes a nice pass to Kubina in the slot who blasts it through the Sens goaltender. Leafs win, 4-3 in OT, Kubina with the tying and winning goal. Cujo gets the win, his 451st of his career, and 2nd of the year.

You can find a scoring summary here.

The third star, Ian White

The second star, Curtis Joseph

The first star, Pavel Kubina!

The Leafs have now taken 7 out of a possible 8 points in 4 meetings with the Senators. The next round in the Battle of Ontario is only 9 days away, but with the trade deadline looming, we might be looking at 2 very different teams by the time March 9th rolls around. A big win tonight for the Blue and White pushes the Leaf winning streak up to 4 games, giving them a record of 6-3-4 for the month of February. They have just one regulation loss in their last 8 games. 

Thanks for coming out everybody. See ya next time at the BoOBbB!