OTTAWA (CP) — It didn't take long for the first shot to be fired in the playoff chapter of the Battle of Ontario.

Ottawa Senators sniper Peter Bondra isn't happy with a hit from Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Tie Domi in Saturday's regular-season finale.

The unpenalized check into the end boards forced the former 50-goal scorer to leave the contest early with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

Bondra was back on the ice when the Senators returned to practice Monday and all but accused Domi of headhunting.

"Somebody else steps in when you're battling for the puck with one player. usually that's when somebody gets hurt," he said. ``Obviously, he wasn't looking for the puck. He was just going after my head."

During the second period of the embarrassing 6-0 defeat, Bondra was driven into the boards by Domi and crumpled to the ice.

Senators centre Bryan Smolinski was the first to arrive on the scene, almost immediately, and threw an elbow into Domi's face, catching him square in the chops.

While Bondra lay on the ice, the Leafs added insult to injury when play turned back to the other end. With a delayed penalty call coming to Smolinski, they scored on the ensuing rush.

Ottawa's Chris Neil had administered a similar hit earlier in the game and received a minor for boarding, a fact not lost to Senators fans, who voiced their displeasure through a chorus of boos following the goal.

The well-spoken, insightful Bondra wasn't trying to ignite an already explosive rivalry. In fact, his comments seemed to pass right by many of the media gathered at the Corel Centre on Monday, who were more concerned with finding out what the Senators can do to change their fortunes this year against the Leafs.

Bondra joined the Senators in a trade with the Washington Capitals in February and hasn't been around for the previous three post-season meetings between the teams — all won by Toronto.

With a couple of regular-season battles under his belt, however, he has seen enough to know that hits like the one he suffered Saturday will be par for the course when Game 1 gets underway at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday (CBC, 7 p.m. EDT).

"It's a rivalry and it's going to be a war, I guess," Bondra said. "I saw (Domi) coming at the last second.

"It was a hard hit. I took it. I feel good. If there was a game tonight, I'd play."

For Bondra, a bigger concern than the actions of Domi will be those of Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour.

Bondra was supposed to add extra scoring punch to the Senators' attack, but he has just five goals in 23 games since arriving.

Belfour, with three shutouts in his last five regular-season games including a 28-save performance Saturday, allowed just four goals in the four games against Ottawa in which he appeared.

The Leafs won three of those four games and tied the other.

"He's played well for them, he made some unbelievable stops," Bondra said. "But, at the same time, I'm not going to do anything different."

Belfour was named the NHL defensive player of the week Monday.