Senators pounce on Maple Leafs early, record 5-2 victory

Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) makes a blocker save on Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares (91) during first period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Saturday, March 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The Ottawa Senators had a dominant game against their provincial rivals Saturday night beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2.

The Senators (36-24-9) dominated play from start to finish, scoring the game’s first three goals.

Anthony Stolarz was expected to get the start but took a puck to the throat during warm-ups and was sent to hospital for precautionary imaging putting Joseph Woll back in action. Woll faced 36 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina Friday night.

Trailing 3-1 to start the third the Leafs (29-29-13) made it close with a goal by Easton Cowan.

The Senators regained the two-goal lead midway through the period when Michael Amadio, with his 12th, tucked in a Jordan Spence rebound. On an odd-man rush Dylan Cozens found Ridly Greig in the slot and he beat Woll, who stopped 39 shots.

Linus Ullmark made a big glove save on Matias Maccelli early in the second to preserve Ottawa’s 1-0 lead.

The Senators made it 2-0 midway through the period when Claude Giroux grabbed a Tyler Kleven rebound and backhanded it past Woll.

Warren Foegele made it 3-0 with just over two minutes remaining when his shot deflected off Benoit, but 21 seconds later John Tavares completed the give-and-go with Cowan and beat Ullmark under the arm.

Ottawa opened the scoring at 14:58 of the first with a power-play goal. Tim Stutzle stepped into the faceoff circle and wristed a shot clean past Woll.

Morgan Rielly missed the game and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Takeaways

Senators: The Senators tested Woll often and had good net-front presence to jump on rebounds.

Leafs: Toronto struggled with Ottawa’s forecheck in the second period and were held to five shots.

Key stat

John Tavares tallied his 519th career goal to pass Dale Hawerchuk (518) for 41st place on the NHL’s all-time list.

Up next

Maple Leafs: Visit the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Senators: Visit the New York Rangers on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2026.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press