February 26, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) moves the puck against the Florida Panthers during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Both teams will be looking for their first win since the Olympic break on Saturday night when the Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Senators had at least one point after losing 2-1 in overtime at home to the Detroit Red Wings in their first game after the break on Thursday.
The Maple Leafs dropped both games after the break after losing 5-1 to the Florida Panthers on Thursday in a game between teams struggling to make the playoffs.
This Battle of Ontario is also important, as both Toronto and Ottawa are currently in a group of teams outside of a playoff spot.
Holding a point on Thursday was a setback for the Senators as they started the run up 6-5 before the break.
“I definitely felt we deserved a better result,” said Brady Tkachuk, who scored Ottawa’s goal. “I thought we did a lot of great things tonight. Their goalkeeper (John Gibson) was on top of his head and had a great game and it was unfortunate we didn’t get the two points we wanted.”
Tkachuk’s goal gave Ottawa the lead late in the first period.
“I thought our start was phenomenal,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “We came right into the game and Detroit is a good team. They would pull back. They stepped up their game after the first period.”
Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle, sidelined at game time due to illness, played and earned an assist. He missed practice on Wednesday and the morning skate on Thursday.
The Senators begin a five-game road trip in Toronto.
This is Ottawa’s second visit to Toronto this season. The Senators lost 7-5 to the Maple Leafs on December 27.
The teams are scheduled to conclude the season series with two games in Ottawa, with the final game of the season on April 15.
If Green was pleased with his performance as the Senators’ starter Thursday, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube was not pleased with his team allowing a shorthanded goal in the first period to fall behind 3-0.
“It’s a tough start. When you lose three, short goals are tough,” Berube said. “We know Florida and we knew they would push that hard.”
Toronto was down 3-1 early in the third quarter, but Florida scored two goals to seal the win.
“I don’t think concern is the right word,” Toronto captain Auston Matthews said. “I think we need more urgency. We need more fire, especially to start the game. We know where we are and we need to be a more desperate team every night.”
Matthews earned his 350th career assist on a John Tavares goal 47 seconds into the third period and passed Tim Horton for 10th on the Maple Leafs’ all-time assist list.
The Maple Leafs couldn’t sustain a strong effort through three periods, which was also the problem in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s the same as last night in Tampa, we need to play for 60 minutes,” Berube said. “Especially now. We can’t work shifts. We have to weather the storm. We didn’t weather the storm very well at first. I thought we had our game in the second and third. I thought it was a competitive game. We were competitive from the start of the game. But they had more jumping power and energy than us, won more races, and kept us in our zone too much.”
Toronto leads the season series with Florida 2-1.
–Field level media
