Sticking it to the Leafs

[Madferret]

Sticking it to the LeafsMcGrattan: 'You could feel the intensity. This is a great rivalry'
By BRUCE GARRIOCH, Ottawa Sun

TORONTO -- Senators 5, Leafs 2

The names may have changed in the Battle of Ontario ... but the intensity hasn't dulled one bit. It was only a pre-season opener, but the Senators' 5-2 victory over the Maple Leafs last night at the Air Canada Centre had plenty of the elements which make this provincial rivalry great.

Jason Spezza had three points, while rookie Brandon Bochenski and Dany Heatley each had two-point nights. Andrej Meszaros, Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher also scored for the Senators.

The Senators lost winger Vaclav Varada with a right knee injury in the second after he blocked a shot. There were also 18 penalties as teams tried to adjust to the crackdown on obstruction and new rules.

"It was a start," said Spezza. "We're a team that likes to use our speed and the (crackdown) should help us. We just have to keep trying to get better. I thought our lines worked well together." There was even a dash of humour as Alfredsson got a nice peck on the cheek from Fisher when the Kiss Cam panned the Ottawa bench.

Even the hardcore Leafs fans had to stop booing Alfredsson to let out a laugh as hockey returned in a warmup for the season-opener between Ottawa and Toronto here on Oct. 5. You can bet there will be no kissing that night.

"It was a good first game," said Senators coach Bryan Murray. "We've got of work to do because there were guys making mistakes with blind passes. We've got time here and we're going to keep building."

Tough guy Brian McGrattan, who led the AHL in penalty minutes last season with 565, made a big first impression with a classic tussle against Toronto defenceman Wade Belak just 4:50 into the first period.

McGrattan showed he knows the spirit of this rivalry by going toe-to-toe with Belak in what one scout maintained "could be the best fight you see this season."

"(Belak) asked me if I wanted to go and I said, 'Sure,' " said McGrattan. "You could feel the intensity. This is a great rivalry. I want to be part of it and it's only going to be better when the season opens. I'm trying to show that I want to be here."

Just when it looked like the Senators were going to go down without a fight, the club came battling back from a 2-0 deficit in the second period with goals from Alfredsson, Spezza and Bochenski.

Alfredsson gave his club the lead at 12:03 of the second on the first shot that J.S. Aubin faced after taking over for starter Mikael Tellqvist. The Senators got off to a rough start in the game. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov opened the scoring, but neither goal could be blamed on Senators goalie Ray Emery. Murray used Heatley and Alfredsson in the practice shootout, but neither scored. Eric Lindros and Mats Sundin scored for Toronto.

[Newfie John]

You can have the pre-season games, we'll take the playoffs. ;)

Just kidding. Seriously it was a good game for the sens. Bochenski when put with the right guys is lethal, he showed that last night. The sens also showed a lot of perserverence coming back from a 2-0 deficit going into the second.

[J.R.]

You can have the pre-season games, we'll take the playoffs. ;)Yeah, I wouldn't get too excited yet. They are only meaningless games, although winning 5-2 against the provincial rival is better than losing 2-5.

[Man.Utd]

I was impressed by the guys who needed to do so. Bochenski in particular, along with Emery and Meszaros were at the very least more than servicable. That's great for their first (for the most part) NHL game against a true opposition. Heatley and Spezza looked great. Not sure on how they'll do in the regular season, but finally we may have a true #1 line as opposed to Martin who went over-board with balanced scoring, making White and Schefer first-liners night-in, night-out. They seem to have nice chemistry and enjoy playing together.

People like Redden and Phillips struggled but I'm not at all worried about them. Chara was weak too but same thing applies. His short-comings weren't due to long-passes and quicker play which is the fear due to his mobility. He just seemd rusty and out of it like the other vets. They'll find their form. Havlat was creative as hell on the LW from the sound of things but needs to work on execution, lots of poor passes lead to breaks the other way. That should come with time. The Havlat - Smolinski - Alfredsson unit will give us a formidable second line. More of a 1b line actually. Schaefer - Fisher - Neil is a good third engery line whilte McGratton - Vermette - Varada (now hurt) is fine for a last pairing.

I'm eagerly awaiting Hasek's debut. If he's strong all signs are positive from our first test. Fingers crossed.

P.S- We should have had more than 5 goals but I'm not completely satisfied. Adequate result but we need to see more killer instinct in the regular season and playoffs. Very different than perseverance which I couldn't be happier about, storming back to dominate from the start of the 2nd period onward and scoring 5 unnswered goals. Coach Murray working his magic? Anyway, once again missing one-timers and open nets is unacceptable from your star players. Same with the Leafs come to think of it. Maybe the U2 concert the previous night made the ice poor? Klee and Kaberle were missing and that left Toronto but with one top-4 defenseman against a very deep and strong forward group. Some nice goaltending by Aubin/Telly, but our finishing just wasn't there with.

P.P.S- People who saw the game confirm that Havlat did bulk up nicely. However, it was definatly exagerated by Sens homer Dean Brown on the radio during the off-season apparently.