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Maple Leafs host Senators in battle of struggling clubs

Feb 2, 2008 - 12:10 PM Ottawa (32-16-4) at Toronto (20-24-9) 7:00 pm EST

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Two teams struggling to find their way clash Saturday, when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Ottawa Senators at Air Canada Centre.

Despite being in first place in the Eastern Conference with 68 points, the Senators have lost four of their last six games. The Maple Leafs, who are 14th in the East with 49 points, enter Saturday's contest with a three-game losing streak.

Ottawa has enjoyed plenty of success of late against its provincial rival, however, going 15-3-2 in the last 20 meetings between the teams. The Senators won the first three matchups this season before suffering a 3-0 road loss on November 17.

After halting a three-game slide with a pair of victories, Ottawa dropped a 4-1 decision to Boston on Thursday. The Senators also won their first three meetings with the Bruins prior to that setback.

Ottawa is expected to be without two of its top three scorers Saturday as Dany Heatley remains sidelined with a separated shoulder and captain Daniel Alfredsson nurses a hip injury.

The Maple Leafs have lost four of their last five games following a three-game winning streak from January 15-19. In its last contest on Thursday, Toronto forged a tie when captain Mats Sundin scored with 12 seconds remaining in the third period but fell in overtime, 3-2, to Carolina.

Like the Senators, the Maple Leafs also figure to be missing one of their top players.

Second on the club with 18 goals and 41 points, Nik Antropov received a three-game suspension for throwing his stick in the direction of officials following the loss to the Hurricanes. The native of Kazakhstan was called for hooking in overtime, leading to the game-winning, power-play goal by Carolina captain Rod Brind'Amour.

Antropov leads Toronto in the season series with three goals, while Alfredsson has scored four times in the four meetings between the teams.