‘I Feel Like We Get Ottawa’s Best’: Maple Leafs Brace for Renewed Battle of Ontario with Optmism-Fueled Senators, Odds, Where to Watch
Ottawa #Ottawa
Although the Ottawa Senators have had their struggles over the years, they’ve given the Toronto Maple Leafs all they had. Coach Sheldon Keefe and the rest of the club expect more of the same.
There’s a different kind of buzz when a bitter rivalry is fuelled by a pair of teams that are highly-competitive.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs have established themselves as an elite regular-season team over the last few years, the Ottawa Senators have been near the NHL’s basement.
But there’s a renewed sense of optimism in our nation’s capital. With the off-season additions of Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat who improve the team’s top-six forward group alone. Adding that to a team that has Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot and should make for an interesting challenge against the Leafs on Saturday.
“There are going to be games now that we can win strictly on talent,” Sens coach DJ Smith told TSN 1200 in a radio interview on Sept. 1
Although the Sens have had their struggles, they have played well above their results against Toronto.
In 2021, they finished second-last in the pandemic-created North Division with a 23-28-5 record but finished an even 4-4-1 in their regular-season series with Toronto.
Last season, the Sens were second-last in the Atlantic Division with a 33-42-7 record. Ottawa still managed a 1-2-1 record against Toronto.
“I feel like we always get Ottawa’s best, regardless of the situation,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Probably not unlike how it was in Montreal.”
The Sens fell 4-1 in their season opener to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. The Maple Leafs are 1-1-0 after getting upset in their season opener in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens before defeating the Washington Capitals 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena.
Keefe didn’t name a starter for Saturday in his post-game comments on Thursday, but signs point to Matt Murray potentially getting the nod against his former team for the first time since they parted ways on July 11.
“Matt unfortunately in his time here, was injured all the time,” Sens coach DJ Smith told NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger on Friday. “He had a lot of bad luck. I’m sure the guys are going to say hi but once the game starts he plays for the Leafs.”
Smith, who served as an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs before becoming Ottawa’s head coach, also admitted that his team, while significantly better this season, is still chasing up to the standard of play the Maple Leafs have established.
The Maple Leafs are not expected to make any lineup changes as their roster is stuck on the requisite 20 players.
Where to watch
The puck is set to drop shortly after 7 p.m. ET on Saturday and can be watched/streamed across Canada on CBC and Sportsnet Ontario, East, West and Pacific. Fans of either team in the United States can watch on ESPN+.
Postgame analysis
You can check out the Rink Wide Toronto podcast to get caught up on everything that happened in the game. It’s the only Leafs podcast with a reporter (me) recording live in the building for every game this season.
Betting line
Vegas has the Maple Leafs as a -210 favourite. That means in order to win $100 for a Maple Leafs win, you’d have to wager $210.