Gameday #18: Leafs @ Senators

7:30 PM ET

Sportsnet East

In Round 2 of the Battle of Ontario, the Senators will try to take a 2-0 lead on the season series with the Leafs tonight. Ottawa has scratched Peter Regin and Ryan Shannon, as Jesse Winchester comes in. The lines will be stay as they were, and the same goes for the defense. Pascal Leclaire gets the start tonight in what some very ignorant Sens fans are calling “a must-win” for the French goaltender. Vesa Toskala gets the start on the other side, as he’s fumbled out of the gate lately. Carl Gunnarsson will play his 2nd game with Luke Schenn for Toronto tonight, so I would expect the Sens to try to keep those two (who supposedly played well against Calgary on Saturday) in check.

In a perfect world, the Sens would sweep the Leafs and eventually annihilate them. Last year we lost the season series because of paltry play but I think if our offense can keep up tonight, it’s a win. If they play like they did on Saturday, it’s a win. If the duo of Alexandre Picard and Chris Campoli actually play defense, it’s a sure win. Toronto finally has some sort of speed with Phil Kessel but there is no one to support him. The next best thing to him is Niklas Hagman, and Coach Weirdo keeps scratching him. Sure, Toskala has historically played good against Ottawa. But, tonight is different. Look for that extra gusto tonight.

I’m gonna go ahead and say Pascal Leclaire has the best game of his Sens career tonight and all cynics will be quieted.

Ottawa 4 (Michalek, Kovalev, Alfredsson, Cheechoo)
Toronto 2 (Grabovski, Kaberle)