Leafs drop finale of rookie tournament

The Toronto Maple Leafs closed out their Rookie Camp with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa.

Senators’ 2010 sixth round selection Mark Stone weaved his way through the offensive zone, and through some Maple Leaf stick checks, before finding himself all alone in front of goaltender Mark Owuya.

With all the space in the world the Brandon Wheat Kings product sealed the victory with a well placed snap shot over the arm of Owuya for his first goal of the tournament.

Norwegian Sondre Olden had the best chance for the Leafs in the extra frame, breaking in on a partial 2-on-1, but couldn’t put the backhand away.

Ottawa goaltender Robin Lehner was credited with the victory, allowing the Sens to finish the tournament a perfect 3-0.

Greg McKegg was the temporary hero for the Leafs when he tied the game with 48 seconds remaining, aided by a terrific team effort.

Jake Gardiner hustled back with the net empty and spoiled Ottawa’s chance of icing the game in regulation time.

He then passed the puck to the far blue-line to Mitchell Heard, who stepped into the zone and threw the puck cross-ice to Josh Nichols, who immediately passed it to a waiting McKegg, who had a yawning cage.

Ottawa’s 2011 first-round draft choice Mika Zibanejad continued his strong showing at the tournament, picking the top corner on a nifty backhand for what appeared to be the game-winning goal until the McKegg’s marker.

Shane Prince set up the sixth-overall pick on the goal. He had three helpers on Tuesday.

The Sens got off to a great start, getting an early goal from Stephane Da Costa, who had a natural hat trick Sunday afternoon against Chicago. He picked up a loose puck near the left faceoff circle and quickly snapped a shot past Owuya.

Early in the second, a defensive-zone breakdown from the Leafs left Jakub Culek all alone in front of Owuya, giving them the 2-0 lead at 7:08 of the period.

The Leafs couldn’t get on the scoreboard until there were 12 seconds left in the second when highly-touted prospect Matt Frattin wired a slap shot from the blue-line to get his first goal of the tournament on a power play.

Olden scored the Leafs second goal of the night, a simple wrister from the point that eluded Lehner to tie the game in the third period.