Maple Leafs 4 - 2 Senators
Final
  for this game

Desperate Leafs visit Senators

Apr 2, 2011 - 3:57 PM (Sports Network) - The Toronto Maple Leafs are still hanging on by a thread in the Eastern Conference playoff race and Ron Wilson's club will try to aid their fading hopes when they visit the rival Ottawa Senators tonight at Scotiabank Place.

With 87 points, the Leafs enter today three behind Buffalo and the New York Rangers for the conference's last playoff spots. Toronto and the idle Rangers have four games left in the regular season, while Buffalo, which plays tonight in Washington, has five contests left on its docket.

The Leafs have won two straight and five of their last six games to help them in their push for the franchise's first postseason appearance since 2004.

Toronto's latest victory came Thursday night in a shootout win over the host Boston Bruins. Nazem Kadri scored in the second round of the shootout, as the Leafs edged the Bruins, 4-3, at TD Garden.

Joffrey Lupul scored a pair of goals and dished out an assist for the Maple Leafs. Lupul tallied the game-tying goal at 7:53 of the third period after his club entered the final period of regulation trailing by a 3-2 score.

Luke Schenn had a goal and an assist for Toronto, while rookie goaltending sensation James Reimer made 35 saves.

"I thought we had a great first period, we made a couple of mental mistakes in the second that they took advantage of and we hung in there. In the third we pushed the pace," Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said.

Toronto's victory in Boston gave the Leafs three wins in their last four road games and an 18-18-3 record as the guest this season.

The Maple Leafs have lost three out of five meetings against Ottawa this season, but Toronto has still claimed six of the last nine encounters between the clubs. The Leafs also have three wins in their last four trips to Canada's capital city.

While Toronto is still fighting for its playoff lives, the Senators are tied for last in the East and have been eliminated from postseason contention. Ottawa is coming off a victory, however, as it posted a 4-1 road win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

Colin Greening scored twice and Craig Anderson made 37 saves in the win for Ottawa. Nick Foligno and Filip Kuba also lit the lamp for the Sens, who snapped a two-game slide and improved to 8-4-1 in their last 13 games.

"It was a good win for us," Kuba said. "Everyone stepped up and did their job."

The Sens have won their last three home games, but still have a dreadful 14-19-5 mark as the host this year.






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