Shane Pinto's three-point night lifted the Ottawa Senators past the Toronto Maple Leafs

OTTAWA — Few expected an empty-netter to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, but Ridley Greig made it one to remember.

With 5.1 seconds left in the third period, Greig chased down a loose puck and fired a shot into the hash marks to bury the empty net.

Leafs fullback Morgan Rielly made a special note of theatrics and head-checked Greig, bringing him into the scrum.

“We didn't like the empty net result,” Toronto captain John Tavares said. “Then we will stick together and hold our ground when necessary.”

Obviously, the Senators (21-25-2) saw things differently.

“You never know what Granger is going to do,” said Josh Norris, who scored his first goal in 15 games. “I love him, but I'm sure if we were on the other side of him, I don't know if we'd want him either.

“I didn't like the revenge, but I understand that they were upset, but it's over and I think it was fun.”

The Senators, coming off a 10-day layoff, didn't get off to the best start with the Leafs dictating play for much of the first period, but Ottawa held on and took control of the final two periods.

“I thought it was a really good move,” Senators interim coach Jacques Martin said. “I thought we slowed down, but I think that's to be expected after 10 days of not playing.

“I think Toronto took advantage of that opportunity, but I liked how we finished the first period. I thought we had some momentum. I thought we were more active. We started to get physical. helped, and then I thought we had a good game.”

Led by Shane Pinto, who had a goal and two assists, the Senators also got goals from Claude Giroux and Vladimir Tarasenko. Joonas Korpisalo made 32 saves.

Auston Matthews, with his 42nd of the season, Matthew Nice and Max Domi scored for the Leafs (26-15-8). Martin Jones stopped 28 shots. Matthews has a nine-game point streak (nine goals, six assists).

The Leafs looked to have taken a 2-0 lead eight minutes in, but on review the goal was disallowed for offside. Giroud equalized when he paced Jones to score his 16th goal of the season.

“We missed a lot of opportunities; maybe we could have scored more goals than we did tonight,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “And we didn't. That's how we win the game.”

Ottawa took a 2-1 lead when Tarasenko singled in and beat Jones high, but despite Toronto being tied by Jacob Chychrun, Nice sent Mitch Marner past Korpisalo.

It was the 209th time Marner and Matthews each had an assist on a goal, combined for a goal, a pair of teammates in franchise history (Darryl Sittler, Lanny MacDonald).

Pinto teed up Parker Kelly for his third of the season, and Norris made it 4-2 with a superb solo effort that finished with a shot into the top corner.

“Obviously, it was nice to contribute to the scoreboard,” Norris said. “When you go so long without scoring it feels like you're never going to score again, so I'm happy to get back on the board.”

Trailing 4-2 to start the third period, the Leafs made it a one-goal game at 5:12 on a nice pass from Domi Rielly.

The Senators take the season series 3-1-0.

NOTES

Ottawa D Jake Sanderson is out with a lower-body injury and Travis Hamonic is back after missing five games. Zach McEwen was a healthy scratch. Toronto's William Lagesson is back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last 17 games. Mark Giordano (lower body) and Conor Timmins (illness) are out.

NEXT UP

Senators: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Maple Leafs: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 10, 2024.