Toronto tries for 3rd time to close out Ottawa, advance to 2nd round
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OTTAWA — The Toronto Maple Leafs will try for a third time to eliminate the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference First Round when the two teams meet in Game 6 of the best-of-7 series at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, MAX).
Easier said than done.
The Maple Leafs are 1-13 in games during the Auston Matthews–Mitch Marner–William Nylander era when they’ve had the opportunity to close out an opponent and advance during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are 0-2 in those situations thus far in this series, having won the first three games before a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 and 4-0 defeat on home ice in Game 5.
“Ready to go. Business. Let’s go,” coach Craig Berube said when asked what the mood of the team was like.
Toronto leads the series 3-2 but has experienced issues putting teams away in the past. To that end, the Maple Leafs have won one postseason series since 2004, that coming in 2023 when they eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the first round.
“I definitely think you want to have a very high sense of urgency tonight,” said Matthews, the Maple Leafs captain. “You want to go out, compete, have fun, and do it for the guy sitting next to you in the room.”
Meanwhile, the Senators can take the next step in hopes of becoming the fifth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series, joining the 1942 Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings, the 1975 New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins, and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks.
With two consecutive wins, they’re halfway there. But captain Brady Tkachuk cautioned against looking too far ahead.
“(We) just have to have that same mindset of win-or-go-home,” he said. “Nothing else to save it for. Same message as the past couple of games: Just leave it all out there, physically, mentally, emotionally, and the game usually takes care of itself.”
The Maple Leafs own an all-time series record of 6-0 when taking a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 series.
Teams that hold a 3-2 lead in a Stanley Cup Playoff series have gone on to win 79.2 percent of the time (357-94) and 80.7 percent of the time (217-52) when opening the series at home.
Here is a breakdown of Game 6:
Maple Leafs: Veteran forward Max Pacioretty has been bumped up to the second line with Nylander and John Tavares. That line showed flashes of good chemistry earlier in the season before Pacioretty ran into injury woes, and Berube feels they can again, especially with Pacioretty’s penchant for causing chaos around the opposition crease. He’ll take the spot of Pontus Holmberg, who slides into Pacioretty’s former spot on the third line with Max Domi and Bobby McMann.
Senators: Ottawa understandably is sticking with the same lineup after back-to-back victories. The Senators will continue to rely on defenseman Jake Sanderson, who is fourth in average ice time per game (27:21) during the playoffs, trailing only Brian Dumoulin of the New Jersey Devils (29:21), Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars (28:39) and Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild (27:45).
Number to know: 26. That’s the consecutive number of power plays the Maple Leafs have failed to score on in games in which they could eliminate an opponent, going back to Game 7 of the first round of the 2018 playoffs, a 7-4 loss at the Boston Bruins.
What to watch for: Berube wants better offense from his team and is looking for his defensemen to join the rush more. The danger is that could create odd-man rushes for the Senators, who have taken advantage of those situations in Games 4 and 5. It will be interesting to see who wins this cat-and-mouse game of X’s and O’s.
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
“Get them the puck. Go to the net. Try and create some time and space for them. They’ve both been playing great hockey and my job is to be physical and get them the puck.” — Pacioretty on being reunited with Nylander and Tavares on the second line.
“We’re expecting big things. Like I said, this is not just about our team, it’s about our city and you can feel the excitement. We’re going to need it tonight. The amount of energy and pride we get from our fans, this city, it’s something that, I don’t really think they know the impact that they have on our team.” — Tkachuk on the impact of the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty — John Tavares — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — Pontus Holmberg — Max Domi
Calle Jarnkrok — Scott Laughton — Steven Lorentz
Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, David Kampf, Artur Akhtyamov, Nicholas Robertson
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)
Senators projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk — Tim Stutzle — Claude Giroux
David Perron — Dylan Cozens — Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig — Shane Pinto — Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins — Adam Gaudette — Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Travis Hamonic, Matthew Highmore
Injured: Hayden Hodgson (lower body)
Status report
Berube opted not to make any lineup changes for Game 6. … Stolarz will make his sixth consecutive start, an NHL career first. … The Senators held an optional morning skate.
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
