The Ottawa Senators solidified their hold on fourth place in the NHL Eastern Conference by dominating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening leg of a home-and-home series Thursday night.
Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond each scored twice as the hometown Senators skated to a 5-1 win over the Maple Leafs in front of 20,018 fans at Scotiabank Place.
Anton Volchenkov levels Alexei Ponikarovsky in a 5-1 Senators win.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
"We felt confident on the bench," Fisher said. "we kept pressing and had the killer instinct we needed to."
Ottawa has won five of its seven meetings with Toronto this season and 12 of the last 15, including six of seven on home ice.
The provincial rivals meet again Saturday (CBC, 7 p.m. ET).
"We're struggling," Maple Leafs head coach Paul Maurice said. "Things aren't easy for us."
Tom Preissing had the other goal as the Senators (39-23-6) halted a three-game losing skid and moved four points ahead of the fifth-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the conference standings.
"We played well enough in parts of the last three games," Senators head coach Bryan Murray said. "Tonight, we were complete."
Dany Heatley registered one assist to extend his point streak to 12 games (10 goals, 10 assists).
Daniel Alfredsson contributed three assists and Jason Spezza had two assists.
"We kept pressing and kept forechecking," Alfredsson said. "We limited their chances, especially five-on-five, we didn't give them any momentum."
Alexander Steen scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs (32-27-9), who suffered their sixth loss in their last nine outings.
"They got three power-play goals and we got nothing," Steen said.
"They came out flying," added Maple Leafs goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who faced 40 shots.
"They had more jump, they were on the puck faster than us, especially in our own end. And when they got on a roll, we weren't able to stop them."
Fisher strikes twice
The Senators outshot the Maple Leafs 10-0 in the first five minutes, and were rewarded when Fisher converted Peter Schaefer's pass to open the scoring 5:13 into the contest.
Fisher was credited for his second power-play goal of the period, when Alfredsson's pass struck him in front and fluttered by Raycroft at 12:36.
It was Fisher's 17th goal of the season.
Alfredsson helped Ottawa go ahead 3-0 less than four minutes into the second period, earning an assist as McAmmond flipped in a loose puck for a short-handed goal.
"It was nice to get off to the good start, get some cycling going and get some chances," Alfredsson said.
Steen replied at the 10:57 mark, spinning by Preissing and beating Senators netminder Ray Emery with a low shot for his 14th.
But Preissing made amends with 3:12 left in the period, blasting his sixth by Raycroft from the left faceoff circle.
McAmmond increased it to 5-1 with his second on the night and 10th overall, pouncing on a rebound and lifting a backhand shot over Raycroft 3:40 into the third period.
"We were focused on making sure that we finished the game off properly," McAmmond said.
With the loss, Toronto remained tied with the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes for the eighth and final playoff spot.
"There are a lot of good teams just in front of us and just behind us and we cannot have too many games like we had tonight," Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "It's nice that we get a chance to show a better effort Saturday night at home."
With files from Sports Network
