Giroux breaks 2nd-period tie, Senators beat Maple Leafs 4-2 for 6th straight victory

TORONTO (AP) — Claude Giroux broke a second-period tie on a power play and the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Saturday night for their sixth straight victory.

Jake Sanderson, David Perron and Michael Amadio, into the empty net, also scored. Linus Ullmark made 20 saves.

William Nylander and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz stopped 21 shots. The Maple Leafs have dropped five of six.

The Senators trail their provincial rival by four points in the Atlantic Division standings. Toronto sits third after Tampa Bay beat Boston 6-2, while fourth-place Ottawa occupies the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot.

Ottawa took a 3-2 lead when Giroux’s centering pass to Ridly Greig glanced off the stick of Toronto defenseman Chris Tanev and past Stolarz.

Senators: Ottawa won the season series 3-0-0.

Maple Leafs: Matthews skipped the morning skate following Friday’s team off-day. The Toronto captain entered with just three goals in his last 16 games before scoring Saturday.

Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson took an interference penalty on Matthew Highmore with an attempted reverse hit, setting up Giroux’s power-play goal.

Senators center Tim Stutzle extended his career-high road points streak to eight games.

The Senators are at Montreal on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs host Calgary on Monday night.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Toronto Maple Leafs right wing William Nylander (88) celebrates with left wing Scott Laughton (24) and center Calle Jarnkrok (19) after scoring against the Ottawa Senators during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) celebrates after against the Ottawa Senators during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto (12) shoots on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz (41) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Scott Laughton (24) collides with Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark (35) and defenceman Thomas Chabot (72) as centre Tim Stützle (18) handles the puck during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators centre Shane Pinto (12) flips the puck past Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Matthew Knies (23) during first period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson (85) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with Claude Giroux (28) and Brady Tkachuk (7) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Scott Laughton (24) and Ottawa Senators center Ridly Greig (71) fight during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)