Interest revived in Battle of Ontario

When you think about the origin of The Battle of Ontario, you think blood and guts. You know, two teams that hate the sight of each other and would rather settle it in the alley than on the ice.

Sunday night’s meeting between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators was hardly representative of the countless knock ’em down, drag ’em out encounters the two teams have routinely scrapped through since 1992 when the Sens re-entered the league. Call it a sign of the times.

Instead it was a relatively well-played game between two of the NHL’s most surprising teams in the early going of the 2011-12 season -- two teams that depend more on skill than brawn.

The Senators entered the contest riding a five-game winning streak. There were those who wondered if they’d win five games all season. The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and were coming off a 4-3 win over the conference-leading Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre.

The resilient Senators proved once again they are not to be taken lightly by defeating Toronto 3-2. So make it six wins in a row for the Senators.

Not many people picked either of these teams to make the playoffs this year and at the end of the day, they might just be right. Still, as Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf likes to say, "I don’t really care what people say about us before the season because we all start the year with zeros across the board."

With both teams playing back-up goaltenders -- Jonas Gustavsson filling in for the injured James Reimer with the Leafs and Robin Lehner, 20, giving Ottawa starter Craig Anderson a rare night off -- they managed to keep the entertainment value high and the score down.

Lehner, after being the American Hockey League’s playoff MVP last season, once again started the year in the minors, but upon his recall showed why he is definitely considered the goalie of the future in Ottawa. And based on his rapid development, the future could come sooner than later.

Gustavsson remains something of a project. He has played well, but certainly not well enough to think he’s ready to challenge for the starter’s job. He’ll make great saves at times, but he’ll also take the wind out of the team’s sails by letting in the occasional stinker.

In the third period, with his team trailing by a goal, The Monster allowed a long shot that was decidedly stoppable to beat him over the shoulder -- a goal that ultimately sunk his club even though the Leafs scored two minutes later to pull back within one.

"It’s hard to tell what happened," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson. "It could have been ramped a bit or fluttered on him; you can’t really tell."

Wilson was more upset about Ottawa’s first goal of the game -- Colin Greening’s fourth of the season on a long-bomb pass from rookie David Rundblad. Greening had slipped in behind Toronto’s defence, accepted the pass and rather easily deposited the puck behind Gustavsson.

"We got caught napping," Wilson said. "I think that had a big impact on the game. At that point of the game we had a 1-0 lead and I thought we were in pretty good control. We had our fore-check going, but a team like Ottawa -- no different than us -- if they can get a goal like that it kind of lights the candle and it did. They played pretty well after that until the last 10 minutes of the game."

True enough. And if you are a Leafs fan, and you are looking for something positive to take out of this particular defeat, it is simply that the Leafs didn’t quit. Toronto dominated the territorial edge in play in the final half of the third period, but, obviously, could not find the equalizer.

Nevertheless, the Leafs have to feel good about being 7-3-1 to start the year.

It is interesting when you think about the contrast of these teams.

When Brian Burke took over the Maple Leafs in 2008, he indicated he’d build a team that would physically pound the opposition into oblivion. That plan, which obviously failed, has been completely overhauled and what emerged, instead, is a fast, very skilled team that has depth. While it doesn’t intimidate the opposition physically, as Burke suggested his team in Toronto would, it also does not get intimidated.

The Senators have initiated a rebuilding program and were expected to challenge, if nothing else, for the first overall pick in next June’s draft. Again, that still may be the case. But there is no denying the Sens have some terrifically talented kids that just may expedite the process; from Lehner in net to Erik Karlsson, Rundblad and Jared Cowen on defence to Greening up front.

Don’t expect to see either of these teams in the Eastern Conference championship come next spring. But based on what they have shown thus far, it wouldn’t be a shock to see one or both of them in contention for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East when the regular season winds down.

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.