tiebreaking goal in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto
Maple Leafs 3-2 Tuesday night.
Fisher beat Vesa Toskala with a high shot with 5:50 left
in the second period to help the Senators rally from a 2-1 deficit.
Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators (9-6-3), who
earned their first win in three games. Alex Kovalev, Alexandre Picard and Chris
Campoli added two assists each.
Pascal Leclaire stopped 30 shots in goal, including 15 in
the third period when the Maple Leafs pressed for the tying goal.
Phil Kessel and Niklas Hagman scored for the Leafs
(3-11-5), who lost their fourth straight. Kessel extended his point-scoring
streak to six games, during which he has five goals and three assists.
Rookie defenseman Carl Gunnarsson picked up an assist on
Kessel's goal for his first NHL point. Toskala, still looking for his first win
of the season, made 18 saves and fell to 0-4-2.
There were three fights in the opening 20 minutes.
Ottawa's Jesse Winchester and Toronto's Jeff Finger got things started early,
dropping the gloves less than 3 minutes in. Senators defenseman Matt Carkner and
Leafs winger Colton Orr squared off midway through the period, with Orr catching
Carkner with a punch that dropped the big blue-liner. About a minute later,
Ottawa's Chris Neil went at it with Toronto's Luke Schenn.
Fisher pounced on a loose puck in the slot and slipped a
shot past Toskala to make it 1-0 at 8:08 of the first. It was the 17th time in
19 games that the Leafs have given up the opening goal.
However, the Leafs tied it 62 seconds later when Kessel
crossed the Senators' blueline and wristed a shot past Leclaire.
Hagman put the Leafs into the lead when he beat a
screened Leclaire less than five minutes into the second, but the Senators
responded when Michalek scored on a deflection with Hagman in the penalty box
for hooking midway through the period.
Leclaire was at his best in the third when made a great
save to reach his stick back and steer the puck out of the crease after a fluke
bounce almost got past him. He survived another close call when Leafs forward
Lee Stempniak struck the post with a shot from in close.
Notes
Carkner leads the NHL in fighting majors with
nine. Orr has seven. … The Senators have dominated the season series in recent
years, improving to 20-9-3 against the Leafs since 2005-06, including a 11-3-2
mark at home. … Six of the last eight matchups have been decided by one goal.