Mogilny scores twice, but Leafs fall to Senators
TORONTO -- The Ottawa Senators began the post-Alexei Yashin era with a
combined scoring effort.
Wade Redden, Marian Hossa, Andre Roy, Radek Bonk and Todd White scored
as Ottawa started the season with a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple
Leafs on Wednesday night.
The Senators, swept by Toronto in the first round of last season's
playoffs, didn't need their former top scorer, who was traded to the
New York Islanders in the offseason.
"Everybody played well," Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime said. "It's not
easy to replace a guy like Yashin, but a few guys stepped up tonight."
White, who gave Ottawa a 5-3 lead in the third, hopes it's a sign of
what's to come.
"Obviously, Yashin scored a lot of points last year," White said. "One
player is not going to come in and score the 90 points that he
routinely got. I think it will be more of a team effort most nights,
and hopefully the team will be able to pick up the slack offensively."
Toronto's Alexander Mogilny, signed as a free agent, scored twice in
his Maple Leafs debut. Mogilny had 43 goals for New Jersey last season.
Toronto's Curtis Joseph, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the
season, allowed five goals on 24 shots.
"We just didn't keep it out of our net," Joseph said. "We have to be
good on the power-play and in penalty killing. It might have been the
difference in the game."
Redden's slap shot on the power play gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:29 of
the first.
Robert Reichel's shot deflected off Mogilny and past Lalime at 7:46 of
the first.
Hossa's scored a power-play goal at 14:53.
"We had some power-play goals and they were key goals," said Ottawa
coach Jacques Martin, whose team went 3-for-5 on the power play.
Mogilny's power-play goal tied it at 2-2 at 1:26 of the second after
Reichel made a cross-ice pass to Gary Roberts, who found Mogilny
streaking toward the net.
Roy scored right after a faceoff, giving Ottawa a 3-2 lead at 2:54 of
the second.
Bonk faked a slap shot and skated around Joseph, scoring at 15:21.
Mats Sundin's slap shot beat Lalime at 19:28 of the second, cutting the
lead to 4-3.
Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson made a centering pass to White, who
one-timed a shot past Joseph for a power-play goal at 8:18 of the third.
Roberts cut Ottawa's lead to 5-4 with a goal with 1:09 remaining.
Notes: Ottawa defenseman Karel Rachunek was taken from the ice on a
stretcher after being checked into the boards by Darcy Tucker in the
first period. The game was delayed for about 10 minutes as paramedics
attended to Rachunek, who was motionless on the ice. Rachunek went to a
hospital for X-rays. He has a soft tissue injury to his back and will
be re-examined on Thursday. Tucker received a five-minute penalty for
boarding on the play. ... The Senators also lost forward Magnus
Arvedson late in the first period when he suffered a right thigh
injury. He will also be re-examined Thursday. ... The Maple Leafs
honored former player Frank Mahovlich before the game. Mahovlich, who
led the Leafs in scoring from 1960-64, had his No. 27 raised to the
rafters. ... Lalime stopped 23 shots. ... The Maple Leafs begin the
season without top defenseman Tomas Kaberle, who is holding out.