TORONTO – Justin Holl and Ilya Mikheyev scored shorts on the same penalty for their first goals of the season on Saturday when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-0 as both teams returned to action inside a Scotiabank Arena without fans due to new provincial COVID-19 regulations.
Jack Campbell made 23 saves for Toronto (21-8-2) to record his fourth shutout of the season to double his career total.
William Nylander added two goals, Mikheyev scored his second in the third period and TJ Brodie had one goal and two assists. Alexander Kerfoot also added three assists.
Leafs captain John Tavares played his 900th regular-season game and 231st for Toronto since signing in unrestricted free agency in July 2018.
Matt Murray stopped 34 shots for Ottawa (9-18-2) without personnel (the Senators currently have six players in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol) in the struggling goalkeeper’s first appearance with the big club since he was demoted to the American Hockey League for a period of time. month to work on your game.
The Leafs and Senators were back in action for the first time since the NHL’s extended hours were halted over the holidays in response to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Toronto, which last dressed on December 14 in a 5-1 win over the Oilers in Edmonton, had a mark of 14 players and seven staff members, including head coach Sheldon Keefe, on coronavirus protocol. after an outbreak last month.
Leafs defender Jake Muzzin did not get dressed after practicing Friday for the first time since coming out of isolation, while his blue line teammate Timothy Liljegren is the only Toronto player still in protocol.
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Ottawa was closed earlier this season due to its own outbreak, resulting in three postponements, and it currently has those six players on protocol, including five announced since Friday: No. 1 center Josh Norris, wingers Tyler Ennis. and Nick Paul, and defenders Dillon. Heatherington and Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Senators’ head coach DJ Smith and an assistant also recently participated in the protocol, but withdrew and rejoined the group earlier this week. Ottawa’s last game before the NHL break was on Dec. 18, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Saturday’s contest was played without fans after the Ontario government announced Thursday that attendance at indoor events, including stadiums, would be limited to 1,000 spectators or 50 percent, whichever is less.
Previously, the province lowered capacity limits to 50 percent, but Toronto’s home games on December 23 and Wednesday were postponed due to the team’s COVID-19 outbreak.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, later said it would operate without tickets sold for the games, except for league and team requirements, for the next three weeks.
The blue tarps that were used during the 2020-21 season when fans were banned from the Canadian arenas until the playoffs, were again placed over a portion of the lower bowl behind the benches to provide a more aesthetically pleasing backdrop for spectators. of TV.
The noise from the canned crowd returned and hymn singer Martina Ortiz Luis sang ‘O Canada’ at the ice level before the record dropped, as music boomed from the Scotiabank Arena speakers in hopes of creating a look of atmosphere. .
But there wasn’t much, as the first day of 2022 looked a lot like the winter and spring of 2021.
Murray and his teammates withstood two early power plays from Toronto, including a pair of nice saves on Jason Spezza, as the Leafs led 8-0 on the shot clock.
The senators gained a men’s lead later in a first period in which they barely touched the puck, but the locals scored twice while falling short.
Brodie made a good play to intercept a pass from Drake Batherson when the Senators threatened Campbell to send Toronto the other way in a 2v1 run. David Kampf fed Holl with Thomas Chabot defending his first goal of the season, and the first since March 25, 2021.
That breakthrough had yet to be announced inside the cavernous building when Mikheyev, who made his season debut on December 14 due to a thumb injury sustained in Toronto’s last exhibition game, received a pass from Kerfoot before passing. to rookie defender Lassi Thomson and fire his first shot. .
The goals equaled the franchise record for being the fastest in understaffing, a mark set by Borje Salming and Greg Terrion on November 16, 1986.
Campbell didn’t have much to do at the other end, but he stopped Alex Formenton on a hot streak in the second period before Murray denied Tavares and Auston Matthews on Toronto’s fourth power play.
Brodie made it 3-0 at 7:18 in a nice enveloping effort after Murray made the opening save.
The Toronto defender then helped his goalie by tying Formenton into Campbell’s door and a loose puck in the crease to hold the lead at 3-0 on the way to intermission.
Nylander buried his 14th on a breakout with 6:19 remaining in regulation before Mikheyev added his second of the night on a power play just 1:01 later.
Nylander then completed the score with 2:46 left on the clock.
Notes: Toronto’s home game Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes has been postponed due to attendance restrictions, but the Leafs are still set to host the Oilers in another nationally televised game Wednesday before kicking off a four-game road trip. . … The senators are scheduled to visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday before games in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg.
This Canadian Press report was first published on January 1, 2022.
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Reference-globalnews.ca