Toronto Maple Leafs teammates Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews celebrate a goal against the Ottawa Senators during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto on April 20.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press
First blood in the Battle of Ontario went the way of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, as they leaned heavily on special teams to skate off with a comfortable 6-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators in their playoff series opener.
Mitch Marner, who had just three points in last season’s first-round ouster against the Boston Bruins, matched that output in Game 1 with a goal and two assists. And the power play – which, like Marner, came in for heavy criticism after going 1-21 in last year’s playoffs – cashed in three times on six opportunities as the Leafs took a 1-0 edge in the best-of-seven first-round series.
It was the first time Toronto has recorded three power-play goals in a playoff game since the 1999 conference finals.
“Special teams on both sides I thought were really strong and did a good job, especially to extend our lead and put ourselves in a good spot,” said John Tavares, who had a goal and an assist in the win. “So, you know, continuing to stay on it, to be sharp and then have it be a difference maker.”
Ottawa head coach Travis Green admitted that his team, which took a total of 14 penalties for 36 minutes will have to better come Tuesday’s Game 2.
“We definitely have to stay out of the box. I’ll say that,” he said.
The eight goals combined between the two teams was the most in a Battle of Ontario playoff contest. And while Toronto, which had scored two goals or fewer in 13 of its last 14 playoff games, was happy to break out, with six different scorers on the night, the players weren’t about to get carried away.
“Look, it’s one game,” said William Nylander, who had a goal and as assist. “I mean, it’s nice to get six goals, I think to start off a series. But I mean, it’s on to the next game. They’re going to come out hotter.”
In addition to being Easter Sunday, the series opener also took place 21 years to the day since the two provincial rivals last went toe-to-toe in the Stanley Cup playoffs, in Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference quarter-finals.
That series, like the other three that had preceded it, went the way of the Maple Leafs.
But that was 7,669 days ago, and back then players like Jake Sanderson and Nick Roberston were still learning to walk, never mind skate, while Brady Tkachuk was still months away from his fifth birthday. But as the Senators captain explained in the hours preceding Game 1, that was a generation ago and the hockey played in those days, like a lot of things, was poles apart from the current game.
“It’s a little bit of a different era now,” he said Sunday morning. “You saw a lot of the physicality of the fights, the grabbing at the face and neck area. So I don’t know if you’ll be seeing that much this series.”
The opening exchanges unfolded much as he had predicted and the penalty box sat unused for the entire first period while Ottawa just shaded the physicality thanks to a 20-19 edge in hits.
“It was intense obviously, a battle,” said John Tavares, who had a goal and an assist in the game. “It’s called the Battle of Ontario for a reason, so [it was] a hard-fought game.”
But with the neighbourly greetings out of the way, it was the Leafs who jumped into the ascendancy where it really counts. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who had missed the last four games of the regular season through injury, had been reinserted into the lineup for the series opener. Just past the seven-minute mark, he repaid head coach Craig Berube for that faith, taking a pass from Scott Laughton in the high slot and beating Linus Ullmark under the glove hand with Toronto’s second shot of the game.
It could have been much worse shortly afterwards for Ottawa and its former Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender, but Calle Jarnkrok, who had provided the secondary assist on the opener, could only hit the post from the edge of the crease, and his shot was cleared off the goal-line and away to safety.
Marner succeeded where his teammate had failed on the Leafs’ very next shot on goal. Taking a defence-splitting pass from Auston Matthews, Toronto’s leading regular-season point scorer broke in all alone on Ullmark, beating the Swedish goaltender bar down at the 12:18 mark.
With the white rally towels being waved wildly around Scotiabank Arena, the Senators were handed a route back into the game with under four minutes left in the first. Anthony Stolarz, making his first career playoff start, was unable to hold onto a routine shot from Dylan Cozens, and Drake Batherson was only too happy to bundle home the loose puck.
Stolarz, who won the Stanley Cup last season as a backup in Florida, was gifted a couple of chances for redemption at the start of the second period though, first denying Tkachuk on a breakaway before standing tall to stymie Shane Pinto.
The importance of those saves was further amplified 30 seconds later. With Tim Stutzle in the box after drawing the first penalty of the game, John Tavares cashed in his own rebound to restore a two-goal lead, with Marner and William Nylander earning the assists as Toronto’s five-forward power play announced its arrival in the series.
“Timely saves are huge,” Berube said. “He made some timely saves that were really important to keep [the score] where it was at and keep the momentum going. So he was huge in that department, for sure.”
Less than three minutes later the power play would get another opportunity. With Ridly Greig and Adam Gaudette in the box for a pair of cross-checking calls, Tavares found Nylander off a faceoff, and coming off his 45-goal regular season, the Swede needed little invitation to shoot. Still, the decision was made easier as the three Senators skaters on the ice parted in front of their goaltender, and Nylander needed only to pick his spot.
With more than half the game still to play, Toronto had just 10 shots on goal, but sat on a 4-1 lead.
Tempers started to flare at the end of the period, with Tkachuk and Laughton earning coincidental minors for roughing with Ottawa staring down a 1-0 series deficit, and with arguably good reason. Historically, teams that win Game 1 in a best-of-seven series go on to advance 68 per cent of the time.
The Senators got a spark four minutes into the final period, Greig firing home a loose puck from the edge of the crease. But any momentum from that was short lived, as Morgan Rielly’s point shot was tipped past Ullmark by Matthew Highmore’s glove 45 seconds later to restore Toronto’s three-goal advantage.
Matthew Knies and the Toronto power play solved Ullmark once more with 6:47 to play to put the game firmly out of reach, with Matthews and Marner picking up their second assists of the game.
Stolarz made 31 saves to pick up his first career playoff win, while Ullmark made 18 in picking up the loss.