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Leafs down slumping Sens

Mar 7, 2013 - 4:50 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Phil Kessel posted a goal and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs held on for a 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.

James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak each gave a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have won four of their past five games. James Reimer gave up four goals on 43 shots in the win.

"I think we've been doing a lot of good things here and we've been getting paid off with our work," said Toronto defenseman Dion Phaneuf. "With this short season every point is needed, and we want to keep building what we've been working on."

Zack Smith posted a goal and an assist, while Colin Greening, Daniel Alfredsson and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Senators, who are 0-2-2 during a five-game road trip. Ben Bishop gave up all five goals on 28 shots in the loss.

"We played good at the end there, but the whole we had dug ourselves was too deep," said Alfredsson. "They were getting a lot of pressure on us early and by the time we figured it out we were down by three goals."

Toronto held a 5-2 lead, but Alfredsson cut it to two goals at the 12:08 mark of the third period as his wrister from the left circle off a feed by Smith beat Reimer for his fifth of the season.

With Bishop pulled for an extra attacker, the Senators made it a one-goal game with 1:57 to play off a backhander from Greening in front of the net, but the team was unable to net the equalizer.

Toronto took a 1-0 lead at the 6:24 mark of the first period when Bozak's one- timer from the slot deflected off a Senator and floated into the net.

It was a 2-0 game just 56 seconds later as Nikolai Kulemin grabbed the puck along the right boards and lost it on a shot attempt from down low, but it went to the slot where Jay McClement one-timed it home.

The Maple Leafs took a 3-0 lead just 80 seconds into the second on van Riemsdyk's 13th of the season when he jammed home a rebound from the left side, but the Senators got a goal 1:28 later as Zibanejad slammed in a rebound from in front.

Ottawa cut its deficit to one just 1:40 into the third period on a goal from Smith, but Kessel added a power-play goal just two minutes later and Nazem Kadri's big blast off a turnover in the slot halfway through the frame gave the Leafs a 5-2 advantage.

Game Notes

Toronto plays at Boston on Thursday ... Ottawa wraps up its five-game road trip in New York against the Rangers on Friday ... Toronto has taken two of the three meetings with Ottawa this season ... Toronto was 1-for-2 on the power play, while Ottawa went 0-for-1 ...Ottawa's Dave Dziurzynski left early in the game with an injury after a fight with Frazer McLaren.