Nazem Kadri may not begin the NHL season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he made the most of his time on the top line in Wednesday's exhibition game just outside Ottawa. The 19-year-old scored twice, including a goal late in the third period to tie the game 3-3.
Phil Kessel tipped a Dion Phaneuf shot with just under two minutes later to help the Leafs regain the lead for good. Kadri set up the play with some heady puck possession.
It was Kessel's fifth goal of the pre-season campaign.
Nikolai Kulemin scored the first of two power-play goals in the first, but Ottawa roared back to take the lead by early in the third on goals from Milan Michalek, Chris Campoli and captain Daniel Alfredsson.
On a club lacking scoring depth, it was believed that Kadri had an inside chance at claiming a spot on one of Toronto's top two lines. But Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson and general manager Brian Burke have gone public with their dissatisfaction with Kadri's performance in the pre-season.
Burke made it clear that the organization believes Kadri will be a future contributor for the Leafs, but that he could be in for some American Hockey League seasoning, a la Burke draft pick in Anaheim, Bobby Ryan.
It is important to note that in contrast to previous exhibition games, Kadri benefited on Wednesday from playing alongside Kessel and Tyler Bozak. Kadri used Kessel as a decoy on his second goal, dragging the puck back with his stick and outwaiting an Ottawa defender before beating Pascal Leclaire.
Toronto beat Ottawa for the second time in three pre-season meetings.
Keys to the game
- Toronto's power play went 3-for-9. Ottawa was able to prevent the Leafs from scoring on a pair of third-period advantages, but Kessel's winner came with Mike Fisher in the box.
- Conversely, the Senators couldn't come up with a man-advantage goal in five opportunities. That included a power play late in the third that arose from a stick penalty from usually smart pro journeyman Tim Brent, who is in a battle to claim a Toronto roster spot.
- Alfredsson put Ottawa up just over a minute into the third, but the Senators managed just five shots the rest of the third period.
What was he thinking?
During a second-period skirmish, Ottawa forward Alexei Kovalev decided to drop the gloves with tough Toronto defenceman Francois Beauchemin. Beauchemin quickly neutralized Kovalev, pulled his jersey over his head, and landed a number of punches before growing bored with the exercise.
It could have been a lot worse for Kovalev, and the Senators.
"I just tried to use my head to hurt him," Kovalev said after the game.
What they said
"Let's stop with all the drama and last chance and all this other kind of crap that goes around. This is just a process we're going through. Some guys have played better than others and they make the team based on their performance." — Leafs coach Ron Wilson, responding to a question about Kadri.
"Everything needs to improve. The power play wasn't very good, but everything needs to be better." — Senators coach Cory Clouston.
With files from The Canadian Press
