OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Patrick Marleau simply opened his mouth, and that was enough to spark Toronto’s comeback.
Connor Carrick snapped a tie midway through the third period and the Maple Leafs scored three times in the final frame to rally past the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Saturday night.
The win stopped a four-game losing streak for the Maple Leafs, who also got third-period goals from Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Zach Hyman scored in the first, Jake Gardiner had three assists and Frederik Andersen made 15 saves.
Toronto went into the second intermission down 3-1 and got an earful from a respected veteran before returning to the ice.
“When Patrick Marleau steps up to say something in the locker room, guys listen,” Matthews said. “He’s a pretty soft-spoken guy but when he says something you have to listen up and he kind of got the ball going.”
Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman and Tom Pyatt scored to give the Senators a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes. Craig Anderson made 29 saves.
Carrick took a wrist shot from the point that went over Anderson’s shoulder and in at 8:58 of the third. The Ottawa netminder didn’t appear to be screened.
The Maple Leafs scored twice less than two minutes apart in the third to tie the game at 3. Matthews scored at 2:53 as he batted the puck into an open net after a shot deflected off defenseman Cody Ceci in front of Anderson and sat in the crease.
Marner scored at 4:21 on the power play as he cut to the front of the net around Johnny Oduya and then used a toe drag to get around Anderson and score.
“We weren’t happy giving up a goal on the power play. We’ve been doing it too much lately so it was nice to get one back,” Marner said.
“It was a great comeback for us and very exciting. It’s always a great atmosphere in here. It’s always fun playing here with the Battle of Ontario. Growing up I watched it and now to be a part of it is pretty special.”
The Senators scored at even strength, short-handed and on the power play in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.
Karlsson tied the game 1-all at 3:08 with Matthews in the penalty box for high-sticking. A rebound of Mark Stone’s shot went directly to Karlsson in the left faceoff circle and he beat Andersen with a quick shot.
The Senators took their first lead of the game when Hoffman beat Andersen short side from the right faceoff circle at 7:12.
“I thought we played OK in the first period and in the second period we really stepped it up and built ourselves a good lead going into the third period. Give them credit, they really made a strong push and we couldn’t sustain it,” Hoffman said.
Late in the period, Ryan Dzingel took exception to a late hit Toronto defenseman Andreas Borgman delivered on Zack Smith.
Dzingel jumped Borgman and received four minutes for roughing. Borgman got two minutes for interference.
On the ensuing Maple Leafs power play, Smith set up Pyatt, who outworked Tyler Bozak in going to the net and beat Andresen with a shot to the top corner at 18:05 for a 3-1 lead.
“It’s a team you don’t like losing to, that’s for sure,” Stone said. “We’ve had some success against them in the past and were looking for some of the same, but it’s hard to put a finger on it.”
Toronto led 1-0 after the first period. Hyman found a loose puck off a rebound and had an empty net to shoot at as Anderson was down and out of position after making the initial stop. The goal came at 7:26.
NOTES: Nate Thompson and Fredrik Claesson were scratches for the Senators. … Dominic Moore, Josh Leivo and Morgan Rielly were scratches for the Maple Leafs. … The Senators recalled forward Colin White from Belleville.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Home on Monday against the rolling Colorado Avalanche, who haven’t trailed during their nine-game winning streak.
Senators: Open a two-game road trip Monday against the Minnesota Wild.
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