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Capital Gains - Leafs Beat Sens 5-3 in Nation's Capital

September 27, 2011, 10:33 PM ET [746 Comments]
Ken Beckett
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
A trip to the Nation's Capital was a successful one for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as their top line came through in a big way in Tuesday's 5-3 pre-season win over the Ottawa Senators.

The trio of Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin, also known as Mac and the USSR, contributed with a total of three goals and three assists on the night to give Toronto their third win of the pre-season. Grabovski led the way with a goal and two assists and was named first star of the game.

It was the Sens who got on the board first however, as Ottawa scored two goals in a 1:07 span. Ottawa's first goal came on the power play, when Mika Zibanejad scored his third pre-season goal and second in as many nights. Shortly after that, Zack Smith scored at the 11:51 mark to put the Sens up 2-0 early.

The Leafs answered back with two goals of their own in a span of 3:40 seconds to tie up the game later on in the opening frame. With Leafs fourth line centreman Philippe Dupuis in the penalty box for hooking, Mikhail Grabovski capitalized off an Ottawa turnover in the neutral zone and wristed the puck past Robin Lehner for the shorthanded goal, his third goal in two games.

One of Toronto's newest additions came through on the power play, when John-Michael Liles fired a shot from the blue line that was deflected off several Sens players and into the back of the Ottawa net to tie up the game at two. The goal was scored at the 18:11 mark of the period and was assisted on by Joffrey Lupul and Nazem Kadri.

Ottawa managed to reclaim their lead only seconds later and before the first period was through however, as just 21 seconds later, Nick Foligno wristed the puck past James Reimer to give the Sens the one goal lead heading into the intermission.

That lead would last until just after the midway point of the second period, when Nikolai Kulemin tied things up at three as he and Grabovski rushed the Ottawa net and banged home the puck after several attempts. Grabovski was credited with an assist on the play, while linemate Clarke MacArthur was given the secondary helper.

The Leafs were able to claim their first lead of the game in the third period, when Darryl Boyce redirected a point shot from Cody Franson at the 1:35 mark for his first goal of the pre-season and the eventual game winner. Franson picked up his first assist of the pre-season on the play, while Matt Frattin collected his third with the secondary assist.

Clarke MacArthur iced the win for Toronto late in the period, roofing the puck over Lehner to give the Leafs the two-goal lead. Grabovski picked up his third point of the night with an assist on the play, with Phil Kessel picking up the other helper.

There was a scary moment just before the midway point of the third, when Sens enforcer Chris Neil hit Grabovski and seemed to target the Belarussian forward's head with his shoulder. Grabovski immediately went to the dressing room, but did return shortly after to assist on the MacArthur goal.

With the recent surge in long-term suspensions for hits to the head, and the league's desire to curb such actions, it is possible that Neil could face disciplinary action from the league as replays seemed to show that he was aware of where Grabovski was and that the hit may have been intentional.

After giving up three goals on 15 shots in the first period, James Reimer bounced back in the final 40 minutes with 19 saves on 21 shots to pick up his first win of the pre-season. Sens goalie Robin Lehner allowed five goals on 31 shots in the loss to drop his pre-season record to 1-2-0.

The Leafs are back in action on Friday when they head to the Motor City for the first half of a home-and-home series against the Detroit Red Wings.

Neil's Controversial Hit on Grabovski


Leafs vs. Sens Stats Recap

Shots
TOR: 31
OTT: 35

Shot Leaders
TOR: Clarke MacArthur (5)
OTT: Chris Neil (6)

Power Play
TOR: 1/4
OTT: 1/4

Blocked Shots
TOR: 11
OTT: 16

Blocked Shot Leaders
TOR: Dupuis, Franson and Liles tied (2)
OTT: Foligno and Regin tied (3)

Hits
TOR: 19
OTT: 24

Hits Leaders
TOR: Jay Rosehill (4)
OTT: Mark Borowiecki (4)

Face-Off Leaders
TOR: Philippe Dupuis - 6/10 (60%)
OTT: Zack Smith - 8/14 (57%)

Time on Ice
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (25:56)
OTT: Erik Karlsson (23:15)

Shift Leaders
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (30)
OTT: Jared Cowen (29)

Three Stars
1) Mikhail Grabovski - TOR (1G, 2A)
2) Chris Neil - OTT (0G, 2A)
3) Clarke MacArthur - TOR (1G, 1A)

For up-to-the-minute Leafs news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett
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