GAMEDAY: Maple Leafs at Senators

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William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on January 6, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 3-2 in an overtime shoot-out. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

MAPLE LEAFS at OTTAWA SENATORS

Saturday, 7 P.M. CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE

TV: HNIC RADIO: Sportsnet 590

THE BIG MATCH-UP

RW William Nylander vs. D Erik Karlsson

Two Swedes under lots of scrutiny. Karlsson has gone from Bytown’s hockey hero to hearing trade speculation about himself. Not a lot of points of late, but he did play close to 30 minutes on Thursday against St. Louis. Nylander went from having a huge finish against the Flyers to being one of those culpable for the overtime loss.

KEYS TO THE GAME

NO LACK OF A TENSION

Both clubs need a win in this Battle of Ontario; the Sens to get distance from the conference basement, the Leafs to show they can take and hold a lead and preferably get the job done in regulation after four straight close losses.

ANDERSEN/ANDERSON

Frederik Andersen, the NHL’s busiest goalie in minutes and shots against let his frustrations boil over Thursday in Philadelphia, now to see how those words affect the rest of the team. Craig Anderson has been very tough on the Leafs.

THIRD AND GOALS

The Leafs have been neglectful in the late stages of the game on coverage and have let special teams’ play slip. Ottawa’s troubles are rooted in the second period, out-scored a whopping 65-36 in the middle frame.

WELCOME HOME

Ottawa Thomas Chabot was told to get an apartment this week and the rookie defenceman  should be even more pumped for this game.

BROWN GOES TO TOWN

Leaf winger Connor Brown, elevated off the fourth line Thursday, will be with James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak again Saturday and be looking to score in his third straight game.

SENATORS GAME DAY LINES

Ryan Dzingel    Derick Brassard Mark Stone

Mike Hoffman Matt Duchene Bobby Ryan

Colin White Zack Smith Tom Pyatt

Alex Burrows Gabriel Dumont Filip Chlapik

DEFENCE PAIRS

Johnny Oduya Erik Karlsson

Dion Phaneuf Cody Ceci

Matt Borowiecki Thomas Chabot

GOALIES

Craig Anderson

Mike Condon

SICK BAY

D Chris Wideman

F Clarke MacArthur

F Jean-Gabriel Pageau

F Nate Thompson

MAPLE LEAF GAME DAY LINES

Zach Hyman Auston Matthews William Nylander

Patrick Marleau Nazem Kadri Leo Komarov

James van Riemsdyk Tyler Bozak Connor Brown

Matt Martin Frederik Gauthier Mitch Marner

DEFENCE PAIRINGS

Ron Hainsey Morgan Rielly

Jake Gardiner Connor Carrick/Andreas Borgman

Roman Polak Travis Dermott

GOALIES

Frederik Andersen

Curtis McElhinney

SICK BAY

D Nikita Zaitsev

D Morgan Rielly

F Nikita Soshnikov

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY

Toronto 20.6 % (11th)

Ottawa 15.1% (29th)

PENALTY KILLING

Toronto 84.2% (4th)

Ottawa 75.4% (28th)