Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell is congratulated by teammate Auston Matthews for breaking the consecutive win record for a Leaf against the Montreal Canadiens during a game at Scotiabank Arena on April 7, 2021 in Toronto.Claus Andersen/Getty Images
There will be some streaks on the line Saturday night when the Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs, who lead the North Division, will be trying to stretch their winning streak to six games when they take on the last-place Senators.
And then there is Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell, who is on a 10-game winning streak, a club record for a goaltender.
Former Maple Leaf Connor Brown will be out to score a goal in his seventh consecutive game, which would be a Senators franchise record.
On Friday, the Leafs looked to pump up their forward ranks by acquiring Riley Nash for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2022.
The Senators have lost three in a row after dropping a 3-1 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Ottawa completed the season series against Edmonton without a point by going 0-9-0.
Still, the Senators, who have one win in their past six games, felt they deserved a better result from their efforts on Thursday.
“You just keep playing like that and you’re going to win more times than not,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “We’ve won more games this year when we didn’t play anywhere close to as well as we played [Thursday]. That’s just sometimes the way it goes.”
“I think we deserved that game,” Ottawa left winger Brady Tkachuk said. “It’s frustrating. We did a lot of great things [Thursday]. I thought we played our best game of the series against this team, and it just didn’t go our way. Definitely frustrating, and especially with our record.”
Brown scored his 12th goal of the season on Thursday in his sixth consecutive game with a goal, matching the longest streak in Senators history. Drake Batherson had a six-game scoring streak earlier this season for the Senators. Also scoring in six games in a row for the Senators were Bob Kudelski (1993), Daniel Alfredsson (2007), Dany Heatley (2007) and Jason Spezza (2010). Spezza is now with the Maple Leafs.
Ottawa has played against the Maple Leafs seven times already this season, going 3-3-1.
Toronto’s Campbell has emerged as the No. 1 goaltender while Frederik Andersen remains out with a lower-body injury. In setting the franchise record with his 10th win in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, Campbell stopped 32 shots and drew praise from his teammates.
“I’m just so happy for him,” said Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, who scored his 28th goal of the season in the game. “He’s such an amazing person and he brings a lot of joy into everybody’s lives in the locker room. I just couldn’t be happier for him. He played unbelievable again. He’s been unbelievable all season. He’s just such a special person and, like I said, we’re all just so happy for him.”
Matthews is on a bit of a roll himself. He has scored in three consecutive games with four goals and two assists.
Ottawa’s Josh Norris, 21, will likely have the task of matching up against Matthews on Saturday. He has been facing the opponents’ top centers.
“With the injury to [Derek] Stepan, [Norris] has essentially become the guy to play against them,” Smith said. “For a young guy, in his first year, to be able to do that is incredible. He’s only going to continue to get better and provide offense. A two-way center is a hard guy to find and he’s a great kid to go with it.”
Toronto right winger William Nylander remained on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list on Friday.