An OT loss, but, hey, nobody got hurt

Matthews ties game late with league-leading 41st, Norris seals deal quickly

The best that can be said about a game that will be mostly scrutinized for how Frederik Andersen performed is that the Maple Leafs played well, and nobody got hurt.

And when you’re playing out the string, with home ice clinched for at least the first two rounds, the wins and losses don’t really matter. So maybe it’s staying healthy that’s the most important thing.

It was the Ottawa Senators, led by a bunch of former Maple Leafs, who had the last laugh, taking a 4-3 decision in overtime Wednesday night in the final Battle of Ontario matchup of the season.

The Leafs won the season series, 5-2-2.

Ex-Leafs Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Brown were among Ottawa’s offensive stars, scoring the Senators’ first two goals. Parker Kelly also scored, his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, and Josh Norris had the overtime winner.

Andersen did about as well as could be reasonably expected, having not played an NHL game since March 19. He got into a couple of Marlies games last week to get himself into game shape. He faced 28 shots, stopping 24

“I actually felt really good,” said Andersen. “Some weird plays. Some unfortunate bounces. Maybe that’s rust. But, overall, felt really good. I felt like I was moving really well. I felt confident.”

Jake Muzzin scored on the power play — a rarity for the Leafs lately — though Ottawa also scored short-handed.

John Tavares scored his 19th goal to earn his 50th point. He’s reached that plateau in eight straight seasons, and 11 of his 12 in the NHL. He fell short — 47 points in 48 games — in the lockout shortened 2012-13 season.

William Nylander extended a points streak to eight games. And Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 41st goal to force overtime. Matthews has points in seven straight games.

“I thought (Andersen) played really well tonight. I think there was times that we weren’t good enough for him and we didn’t really help him on a couple of those (goals),” Matthews said. “(The loss) is purely on us, but I thought he looked good, looked confident. I think that’s all you can really ask.” á Bubble wrap: Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe was trying to walk a line between keeping players game-ready and keeping them in bubble wrap.

Unlike other teams that have clinched playoff spots and rested stars, the Leafs don’t have that option because they can’t fit extra players under the salary

OVERTIME

cap. So Keefe extolled the virtues of play over rest, pointing out the Leafs probably will have four or five days off between the end of the regular season and Game 1 against Montreal. Plus, the Leafs can pass the likes of Florida, Pittsburgh and Washington in the overall standings before the season ends. Regular-season standings will determine seedings in the third round.

“There’s a lot of different things here that would be motivations for us to continue to pushing here” said Keefe. “Perhaps the biggest one is just, with the schedule, it looks like it’s going to be late into next week before we get going. That’s a large gap. We’ve got to stay sharp and stay game ready.” á The broadcast: They called it Hockey Night In Canada, but it wasn’t on CBC. Worse, someone at Sportsnet felt the opening few minutes of the broadcast was a good time for Ron MacLean and David Amber to shill for Sportsnet’s streaming app in what was supposed to be comedy bit with network’s “Life Coach” advertising spokesman. á The finale: The Leafs head to Winnipeg for Friday’s regularseason finale, a game rescheduled due to the Vancouver Canucks’ mid-season COVID-19 outbreak. Jack Campbell is expected to start in net.

“That is the expectation — that we’re going to get Jack in on Friday,” said Keefe. “Just like all our players, we’re looking to get everybody as ready as possible here. Whether they’re guys who are healthy and available to play or the guys that are still working their way back to being game ready, we’ve got to have that focus, of course, of making sure that it’s all systems go at that time.” á Roster implications: The decision to play Andersen had roster implications both for Wednesday’s game and Friday’s finale in Winnipeg.

To take Andersen off longterm injured reserve, the Leafs needed to clear cap space. They put Zach Hyman on LTIR, retroactively, and sent Rasmus Sandin to the minors via the taxi squad.

Neither Hyman nor Sandin, or the rest of players on LTIR, can dress, though they can practice. That includes Riley Nash, Zach Bogosian and Scott Sabourin. The salary cap is not enforced in the playoffs. Hyman, Sandin and Nash are expected to have roles in the first round. Bogosian and Sabourin are recovering from injuries. á Roster tidbits: Adam Brooks and Dave Rittich were officially listed as healthy scratches. But the travelling party for the morning skate was much larger, including: defenceman Mac Hollowell, forward Denis Malgin, Hyman, Sandin and Nash.