Maple Leafs top Senators to open split-squad pre-season doubleheader

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian PressPublished Saturday, September 24, 2022 3:46PM EDT

TORONTO – Justin Holl had a goal and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs scored on three straight shots in a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in the opener of a split-squad doubleheader to kick off the NHL’s pre-season schedule.

Alex Steeves, with two goals, and Denis Malgin also scored for Toronto. Mark Giordano added three assists. Erik Kallgren stopped seven shots over 40 minutes of work for the Leafs before making way for Dylan Ferguson in the third period.

Tim Stutzle replied for Ottawa, which got 10 saves from Cam Talbot. Kevin Mandolese took over goaltending duties midway through the second.

Toronto regulars in the lineup for the 1 p.m. start at Scotiabank Arena included Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander.

Stutzle led the charge for Ottawa, while Talbot, Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux suited up with Ottawa for the first time since joining the club as part of a busy off-season in the nation’s capital. Jake Sanderson, the fifth overall pick at the 2020 draft, made his professional debut for Ottawa.

The teams were set to dress entirely different rosters for Saturday’s 7 p.m. nightcap, with goaltender Ilya Samsonov poised to see his first action for the Leafs. Fellow netminder Matt Murray, acquired by Toronto from Ottawa in July, was given Saturday off.

The exhibition schedule’s curtain-raiser marked the first time the Leafs have played a split-squad doubleheader in the same venue on the same day, while it was the second such instance for the Senators after they met the New York Islanders in St. John’s, N.L., in 2014.

The Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers have played three pre-season doubleheaders since 2011, and have another scheduled for Monday.

The Senators opened the scoring midway through the first when Stutzle took a stretch pass and beat Kallgren on the visitors’ only shot of the period.

Toronto held a decided territorial edge and finally broke through with a trio of goals 2:14 apart in the second.

Holl scored on a long shot with Zach Aston-Reese screening Talbot, Malgin took a slick feed from Nylander on an odd-man rush, and Giordano’s point shot deflected in off Steeves for a 3-1 advantage.

Steeves scored his second of the afternoon into an empty net late in the third.

Ottawa visits the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, while Toronto hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2022.