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The Toronto Maple Leafs, up 3-2 in the series, attempt for a third time to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Ottawa Senators.
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Again, stop us if you’ve heard this before: In a game that mattered, the Leafs’ stars did not take over. It’s not rocket science. Any team that is built top-heavy with some of the best offensive weapons in the league needs those weapons to fire in the biggest games.
But Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly put together a grand total of zero points in Game 5. That’s unacceptable.
The Leafs’ top players had chances to convert and take steps toward putting this series to bed. But the lack of execution is troubling. And by this point in the series, getting chances and chances alone isn’t something this core should be proud of.
After the game, Stolarz called his teammates “snakebitten.”
The once white-hot Leafs power play has cooled off, too. The Leafs were given a gift when Greig took a needless holding penalty early in the third period. They sent that gift back by allowing a short-handed goal.
“I didn’t think our power play was direct enough tonight,” Craig Berube said.
Not good enough to win a game. And now it’s worth wondering if it’s good enough to win a series against a wild-card team.
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Jake Sanderson was the best defenceman for either team in Game 5. On a night when the Sens’ offence wasn’t generating a lot, Sanderson upped his game on the defensive end. He broke up plays on the penalty kill and pushed opposing forwards to the perimeter.
Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews particularly struggled with Sanderson. Their Corsi ratings were each below 50 percent with Sanderson on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick. Matthews’ rate hovered below 30 percent for parts of the game while Marner only had an expected goal share of 0.24 with him on the ice. By game’s end, Sanderson led all Sens defencemen in ice time.
His partner, Artem Zub, with seven shot blocks, also deserves some love.
In fact, many Sens players deserve credit for their defending, particularly on the PK.
The Sens struggled with the Leafs power play in the early parts of this series. Since Game 4, the Leafs are 0-for-7 with the man advantage. When Ridly Greig took a third-period penalty, it looked dicey for the Sens. But then Adam Gaudette rushed up ice and fed Cozens for a short-handed goal — the Senators’ second in as many games. The Leafs didn’t recover.
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Shift after shift, the home side seemed stressed and played like it, too. At their best, the Leafs can skate through the neutral and offensive zones with ease. On Tuesday, they made edgy and indecisive plays with the puck.
When they got close to the goal, they seemed to overthink. Lorentz’s decision to skate into Ullmark on the aforementioned two-on-none, instead of passing or shooting the puck, was a clear example of indecisive play.
And, naturally, as the game went on and the Leafs were unable to find the back of the net, Scotiabank Arena tightened up. A raucous crowd after puck drop grew quiet. The writing on the wall became clearer with every shift. There were boos heard midway through the third period after the Leafs allowed the second goal.
This is a Leafs team that had a chance to change the narrative around them on home ice. They didn’t. They’ll try again in Ottawa on Thursday.
Leafs coach Craig Berube delivered a simple message to his Leafs team after the game: “Stick with it. We’re up 3-2 in the series.
“It’s playoff hockey. There’s a lot of ups and downs,” Berube added. “We have to stay composed and stay poised.”
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Linus Ullmark has been trending upward throughout this series. As the Sens struggled to get shots on net, they needed Ullmark to remain steady. He was perfect on Tuesday. Ottawa ended the first period with three shots, virtually unable to generate chances in the middle of the ice. Ullmark, particularly sharp when the Leafs had their first power play, began his shutout of the Senators in the first period.
It continued in the second period, where Ullmark benefited from some tight defensive play. One play that stands out in particular? Nikolas Matinpalo and David Perron rushing back to break up a Steven Lorentz chance on what appeared to be a clean two-on-none.
Ullmark even did his best Anthony Stolarz impression when he got physical with Marner, knocking the Leafs forward down.
“It’s just showing what our team identity is, just resilience,” Brady Tkachuk said of Ullmark. “It starts with him. He’s a leader in that way. It just shows, our back’s up against the wall, his true self comes out, and his confidence. It just gives us so much confidence in front of him.”
The Sens needed Ullmark to be at his best. They needed him to practically steal a game. It happened in Game 5, and the series returns to Ottawa as a result.
Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas asked Brady Tkachuk if he thinks the Senators cast a seed of doubt in the minds of the Leafs players.
“I think so,” Tkachuk said after Game 5. “We’re not going to go away easy. Our season’s (been) on the line, the last two games. Our mindset’s not going to change. If we lose, you go home. We’re going to do everything it takes and leave everything we have out there.”
We'll see if the doubt grows tonight or is squashed in Game 6.
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By Julian McKenzie and Joshua Kloke
Another day, another missed opportunity for the Maple Leafs to close out a series.
After a 4-0 Senators win in Game 5, the Leafs still hold a 3-2 series lead, but you might not know it by the way they played at home. They struggled to connect passes when it mattered, could not execute with the puck deep in the Senators’ zone and generally looked tense.
By this point, we know the story. Toronto’s talent level trumps that of the Senators, but the Leafs’ perennial problems closing out series have surfaced again.
The Leafs’ core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly are now 1-12 in games when they have a chance to win a series.
Full credit to the Senators for closing well defensively and getting elevated performances from the likes of defenceman Jake Sanderson and goaltender Linus Ullmark, who stopped 27 shots in an impressive shutout.
Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens scored huge goals in a tight game. Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk added empty-netters.
Chabot scored the game’s opener on a point shot in the second period, getting a bit of help from a slight pick as Marner tried to get to him defensively.
Cozens opened up a 2-0 lead in the third period with a short-handed goal.
The Leafs failed to generate much of anything, and the Senators’ stinginess sends the series back to Ottawa for Game 6 on Thursday.
They’ve planted seeds of doubt in the Maple Leafs after trailing 3-0 in the series. It’s springtime in Toronto.
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Will the Maple Leafs close out the series, or will the Senators find a way to force Game 7?
How far can the winner of this series go in the playoffs?
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Tonight's Game 6 featuring the Maple Leafs and Senators is on TBS/Max in the U.S. and Sportsnet/CBC in Canada.
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Tonight's Game 6 between the Maple Leafs and Senators is 7 p.m. ET. That's 4 p.m. PT.
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Greetings hockey fans. Welcome to The Athletic's live coverage of Game 6 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators.
The Leafs got shut out in Game 5 in their second attempt to close out the series. Can Toronto advance to the second round with a road victory? Or will Ottawa force a Game 7 back in Toronto?
Follow along as we build up toward tonight's game.
