Observations from Maple Leafs and Senators: Uneven action ends in bad news

The Toronto Maple Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 lead and looked on their way to a comfortable win on Saturday night.

Their second goal was wiped off the board due to an offside call, and the team chased down a game against their in-provincial rival, the Ottawa Senators, in a 5-3 loss – which they won in the season series. .

Martin Jones played his first game in net since January 20th and William Lagesson saw the ice for the first time since December 27th, but neither had a positive impact. Even though the Maple Leafs' top line was sharp and Matthew Knis and Max Domi had touchdowns on touchdowns, the team didn't put too much on tape that coach Sheldon Keefe would be pleased with.

A frustrating outing for Toronto ended with Morgan Rielly's particularly brutal response when Ridley Greig's shot into an empty net was met with aplomb.

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Three stars

1. Auston Matthews

Matthews opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game, burying a superb feed from Mitch Marner for his 42nd.

He also assisted on the Maple Leafs' second goal of the game, and his streak consistently tilted the ice in Toronto's favor. His five-on-five in 17:34 led the Maple Leafs to a 12-6 win over the Senators, shooting 64.10 percent of expected field goals.

Matthews' contributions went beyond the scoreboard, as he had a perfect night at the dot (63.2 percent), sent six shots on net and played nearly half of the Maple Leafs' penalty minutes. In his last nine games, he has scored nine goals and six assists, and his current goal rate stands at 69.43.

2. Matthew Knys

Nice has gone scoreless in his last 17 games, with his most recent coming on December 27 against the Senators. The rookie has just four assists and 14 shots on goal during that slump.

While the 21-year-old's primary focus is to forecheck, get pucks and create situations in front of the net, his lack of real production of late has still been disappointing.

On Saturday, he worked hard on the offensive end and was rewarded for his efforts. His work behind the net helped Marner set up the first goal, and he scored the second with a tip that showed hand-eye coordination.

3. Mitch Marner

You could make a case for Max Domi here, but Marner gave his team 19:32 of quality ice time, dished out two key assists and was instrumental in Toronto's two successful penalty kills.

When Toronto set up shop in the Senators' end all night, they made 64.71 percent of their shots and 66.67 percent of their expected field goals within five minutes.

He's at the bottom of the podium thanks to his effort on Ottawa's fourth goal, as his inability to chase down enough Josh Norris to beat Martin Jones in the center gave the Senators control of the game.

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Marner-Mathew is stronger than ever

If you've watched enough Maple Leafs hockey, you won't be surprised by any goal that starts with Marner's lofted pass and ends with Matthews slamming the puck into the net.

The former is one of the best playmakers on the planet, the latter is the NHL's top scorer, and they spend a lot of time together. They are expected to use their extra abilities to regularly light the candle.

Marner's success in finding Matthews this season has flown under the radar for that reason, but when the wily winger set up the center early, it marked his 18th key pass to Rocket Richard's favorite goal of 2023-24. For a little context, that's his first assist total for Matthews in 2021-22 and 2022-23 combined — two seasons in which Matthews scored 100 goals.

Over the previous two seasons, Marner hasn't played as much per game with Matthews, but when you look at overall ice time and production, the result is an impressive increase.

Max Domi rarely concedes a goal and pulls it back

Domi's failure to find the back of the net has been widely discussed this season, as the 28-year-old entered Saturday's game with just four goals in 49 appearances. That's a small figure for a player coming off a 20-goal campaign for the first time, let alone one whose calling card is his signature game.

With less than eight minutes left in the game, the 28-year-old appeared to catch the break that eluded him for most of the 2023-24 season by taking him off his skates.

Domi's reaction showed he was worried about the goal being called back because of the possible movement of the shot. As it turned out, a slight offside by Noah Gregor kept the goal off the board.

Toronto's third-string center found a soft spot in the slot for his goal early in the third period, skipping past Joonas Korpisalo.

Five goals in 50 games still isn't the kind of stat line Domi was hoping for when he joined the Maple Leafs, but getting on the board for a guy with just one point in his previous nine games was quite a positive.

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Depth scoring has been a major concern for the Maple Leafs in recent weeks, as they've struggled to generate offense outside of Marner, Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares.

Saturday was the first time Toronto had multiple goals from outside-four forwards since a 7-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 9. In the 11 contests between that loss and Saturday's battle with the Senators, the Maple Leafs had 22 goals. goals from the top four guys and just five from all other forwards.

It remains to be seen if this game will help get Knis and Domi going, but Toronto desperately needs players like that pair — and Tyler Bertuzzi — to give them a little more production.

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Game score

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Final grade: C-

The Maple Leafs' effort on Saturday was inexcusable. They held the Senators' territorial advantage five-on-five, and a hot-tempered power play that had converted 40 percent of its chances over the past five games never really shined. That's the kind of performance that sometimes gets you the win, especially against mid-level competition.

Even so, Toronto couldn't get an early lead — and a loss to a team that entered the game with a .447 hitting percentage is a rough performance for this group.

The team looked creative and dangerous at times, but another disorganized effort led to a poor result.

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What's next for the Leafs?

They return home to face the St. Louis Blues on TSN Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

(Photo: Chris Tanouye/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)