OTTAWA — Some things never change.

It does not matter that it has been six years since the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs played each other in a meaningful game. Or that if the season was to end today that neither team would qualify for the playoffs.

Put the two Ontario-based teams on the same ice and three things are usually guaranteed: players will be hit, blood will be spilled and Daniel Alfredsson will be booed.

After a monotonous meeting six weeks ago in Toronto, Tuesday night’s game did not disappoint in any category. Featuring four fights, a combined 60 penalty minutes, and two goals from Mike Fisher, the Senators defeated the Leafs 3-2 in a game that finally lived up to the pre-game hype.

Sure, Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place featured large sections of empty seats, and the only thing being battled was mediocrity. But from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer, both teams played as though their season depended on it.

Who knows? It just might.

The Leafs, who entered the game with just three wins in their first 18 games, are trying to resurrect a season spent near the bottom of the overall standings. The Senators, who started the night in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, are trying not to fall too far off the pace.

The game was tied 1-1 after a first period that featured 20 combined shots, 17 combined hits and three fights.

Less than three minutes into the game, Jesse Winchester levelled Toronto’s Jamal Mayers with an open-ice hit, prompting a fight between the Ottawa player and Toronto defenceman Jeff Finger. Before the period ended, Leafs’ enforcer Colton Orr dropped Senators’ enforcer Matt Carkner with a series of punches, while Toronto’s Luke Schenn renewed his rivalry with Ottawa’s Chris Neil in a somewhat less-spirited bout.

Exactly 62 seconds after Fisher gave the Senators a 1-0 lead, the Leafs answered back.

Taking a pass at Toronto’s blue-line, Phil Kessel rushed up the ice and unleashed a wicked wrist shot from just inside the offensive zone for his fifth goal of the season. Ottawa goaltender Pascal Leclaire appeared to complain that his defence screened him.

The second period was 74 seconds old when the gloves came off again.

This time it was Toronto’s John Mitchell picking a rare fight with Jarkko Ruutu after the Ottawa forward levelled Schenn behind his net. The emotional response seemed to spark the Leafs, who took a 2-1 lead shortly after on a goal from Niklas Hagman.

The Senators responded with two quick goals — from Milan Michalek and Fisher that were three minutes apart.

“We had offence,” Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said. “We didn’t finish our chances. Again, a couple of sloppy plays in the neutral zone resulted actually in three goals against — every mistake it seems ends up in our net.

“And we can’t seem to have the same kind of finish at the other end.”

For Vesa Toskala, who received the start over Jonas Gustavsson, it amounted to three goals allowed on 14 shots. Of course, the stats do not tell the entire story.

With the Leafs on their heels for most of the second period, the veteran goaltender was actually a difference-maker. He forced Nick Foligno into hitting the side of the net on a breakaway. And he kept his team to within striking distance.

“We have to find a way out of this funk and make the luck back on our side,” Leafs forward Matt Stajan said. “It’s been tough. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s been fun.”

Toronto thought it had tied the game but Leclaire made a desperate lunge back to cover an empty net with his paddle and rob Nikolai Kulemin.

“We had enough chances, especially in the second half of the third period,” Wilson said. “But their goalie made some big saves and probably a couple of lucky ones, too.”

National Post

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