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The Toronto Maple Leafs take Game 3 in overtime 3-2 over the Ottawa Senators. Simon Benoit scored the game winner. It’s Toronto’s second consecutive game won in OT.
After being down 1-0, the Toronto Maple Leafs scored two consecutive goals, courtesy of Knies and Auston Matthews. But Brady Tkachuk got the equalizer in the third period, guiding this game to overtime before Benoit sealed the victory.
Matthews won the draw in overtime setting up the blast from Benoit that found the back of the net to give Toronto the win.
The Leafs take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Toronto can advance to the second round on Saturday night in Game 4.
Read more about Game 3 below.
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Leafs’ Simon Benoit plays OT hero, puts Senators on the brink: Game 3 takeaways
Ottawa’s Nick Cousins has been fined $2,083.33, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for unsportsmanlike conduct during pregame warm up for Game 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to the Department of Player Safety.
The Senators organization is also fined $25,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct during the warm up.
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David Perron hasn't seen the video of last night's warmup, but added: "We're going to have to bring back HD for the warmup too. I'm from the days where there was only 10 games in HD when I started my career. It sounds like we need to update the quality of video in warmup."
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Ottawa clearly came into this series ready to play with emotion and physicality. It burned them in Game 1 after a number of bad penalties ended up in the back of their net.
The Leafs power play was dominant throughout the second half of the regular season — converting around 30 percent — but it’s largely been ineffective year after year in the postseason. The fact that it’s been so deadly in this series has been the biggest difference maker overall.
The Senators simply don’t seem to have an answer for the fluid puck movement and creativity being thrown at them right now when they’re on the kill. The Leafs have scored five of their 12 goals in the series (42 percent) on the man advantage and have converted on 56 percent of their nine power plays.
What’s been more impressive than the overall number of power-play goals, however, is just how efficient the Leafs’ top unit has been. Toronto has spent only nine minutes and 58 seconds on the power play all series because they’ve ended so many of their opportunities early with a goal.
During the season, the Leafs were seventh in the NHL with 9.25 goals per 60 minutes on the power play.
In the playoffs, they have scored at a ridiculous 30.1 goals per 60 minutes rate, meaning they’re scoring on average every single two-minute stretch.
You’re going to win a lot of series with that type of weapon in your arsenal. Maybe even all of them.
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Mirtle: 6 reasons why Maple Leafs have Senators on the verge of elimination
Leafs coach Craig Berube says he thought Max Pacioretty was “excellent” in his return to the lineup in Game 3, particularly the physicality he brought.
Pacioretty threw seven hits in his 12.5 minutes.
Safe to say, the 36-year-old is sticking around for Game 4.
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We are just six nights into the Stanley Cup playoffs and already the Toronto Maple Leafs have realized the immense benefits of chasing down the Atlantic Division crown.
Securing that spot booked them a first-round matchup with the Ottawa Senators, a talented but inexperienced bunch, and Toronto has wasted no time in exerting control to grab a 3-0 lead in a series for the first time in a generation.
While they’ll obviously be careful not to get ahead of themselves with a chance to finish off the sweep Saturday and secure another week of preparation for Round 2, the Senators don’t exactly look or sound like a group ready to rally.
“It’s disheartening, to say the least,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said after Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss – the second straight game in which his group rallied in the third period only to come up short.
Making a playoff appearance for the ninth straight year, the Leafs know as well as anyone how thin the margins can be in the springtime.
That includes the difference between facing a wild-card team, with only eight players on the roster who had prior playoff experience, and what they might have gotten in a matchup against the Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning instead.
The perils of facing a perennial Stanley Cup contender are real. Tampa finished second in the Atlantic this season – six points behind Toronto – and opened the Battle of Florida with two home games against the Panthers.
They now find themselves in a 2-0 hole.
If the Leafs manage to finish off the sweep, which would be the organization’s first since a 2001 first-round series against Ottawa, they’ll get the chance to sit back and wait for the winner of the Panthers-Lightning series to emerge. That’s an appealing proposition for a team with serious designs on a long playoff run. Every bit of energy conserved matters.
Read more below.
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The Maple Leafs’ Atlantic Division title is paying off. Now they have to finish the job
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Ottawa Senators fans had waited 2,893 days in between home playoff games for their moment — and the right to wave white rally towels in a home playoff game, as Senators fans overwhelmed the small pockets of Leafs fans through the Canadian Tire Centre. A win would’ve turned the tide in their favour. But it was those in blue who remained in the CTC’s lower bowl, chanting support for their team as the Sens and their fans were left disappointed.
Twice the Senators have done the work to force overtime in a series against their bitter rival with momentum on their side. Twice the Senators were beaten by a surprise goal from an unlikely source.
The Senators’ result in Game 2 still left them confident in their chances against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Game 3 might be the backbreaker.
“One shot away again,” forward Claude Giroux said. “It’s definitely very frustrating.”
Giroux and Brady Tkachuk could only do so much. Both men scored and forced overtime, only for Simon Benoit to channel the spirit of Cory Cross before him to put the Senators on the verge of being swept.
Instead of the Senators swaying momentum in their favour, they were left shell-shocked.
“Back-to-back games, it’s a one-shot game,” Tkachuk said after the Senators lost 3-2 in overtime, their second consecutive overtime loss in the series.
“It’s going to sting for tonight,” goalie Linus Ullmark said after making 17 saves in the loss.
Read more below.
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Senators’ first playoffs in 8 years feel over before they really began: ‘It’s disheartening’
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There have been many moments in the Battle of Ontario over the years. Some classic and memorable. Others forgettable.
Which ones make The Athletic Sean McIndoe's list? Read below.
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Which classic Battle of Ontario moments should Maple Leafs and Senators fans shelve or keep?
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By Jonas Siegel, Joshua Kloke and Chris Johnston
With the Stanley Cup playoffs about to begin, Simon Benoit was sitting at his dressing room stall in Toronto, preparing to play Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators.
How did he feel about his finish to the regular season, when his play seemed to improve?
“What do the numbers say?” said Benoit, smugly. “I don’t care about the season, how the season went — I just feel ready for tonight and the rest doesn’t f—ing matter.
“It’s playoffs. Best time of the year.”
And the time when unlikely heroes emerge — none more unlikely for the Maple Leafs than the 26-year-old who had all of six goals in his NHL career before his point shot beat Linus Ullmark to end Game 3, propelling the Leafs to a 3-0 series lead.
“It’s always great when a guy like that scores,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said afterward.
How unlikely was this Benoit goal? Let us count the ways.
If you go back to the start of his 17-year-old season in the QMJHL, Benoit has played 659 total games and scored 22 times, roughly one for every 30 games. And somehow this was the second consecutive overtime winner he’d factored on, becoming just the seventh defenceman in NHL history to accomplish that feat.
No one was more surprised than Benoit when he found himself sitting in front of a bank of cameras at the postgame podium reserved for stars of the game, or even just 30 minutes before when he found himself getting mauled by white sweaters on the ice.
“I didn’t quite know how to react, to be honest,” said Benoit. “I just lifted both of my arms and didn’t move, and I saw all of those guys coming towards me. A good feeling.”
Read more below.
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The Maple Leafs’ most unlikely hero has them on verge of sweeping Battle of Ontario
The NHL is investigating the conduct of some members of the Ottawa Senators during warmups before Game 3 of their first-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, a league source said Friday morning.
Senators forward Nick Cousins is alleged to have been shooting pucks into the Leafs end of the ice before Thursday’s game and appeared to be targeting goaltender Anthony Stolarz in particular, according to the source.
Other members of the team may have been involved in lobbing pucks across the centre line as well.
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NHL investigating Senators’ Game 3 warmups mischief vs. Leafs: Source
Simon Benoit has as many playoff overtime goals as Alexander Ovechkin, if you can believe it. Meanwhile, Senators fans of a certain age may have seen this script before. A relatively unknown defenceman scoring an overtime winner to put the Senators on the brink of elimination. Cory Cross did it in 2001 against the Senators. History sort of repeats itself 24 years later.
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Game 4 between the Maple Leafs and Senators is Saturday night from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs now have five power-play goals in three games. A reminder: In last year's playoff series against the Boston Bruins, the Leafs went 1-for-21 in seven games.
The penalty kill has also been effective. In Game 3, Toronto was 3-for-4 on the PK.
If you look at the assist leaders, the "Core Four" Maple Leafs forwards represent the top four spots. Mitch Marner leads the way with five, with Auston Matthews in second (four), William Nylander in third (three) and John Tavares fourth (two).
Morgan Rielly, Simon Benoit, Calle Jarnkrok, Scott Laughton, Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann all have one assist.
There are three players that have two goals for the Maple Leafs in the playoffs: John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies. Knies got the Leafs on the board in Game 3 with a power-play goal.
Six players have one goal, including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Game 3 OT winner Simon Benoit.
The "Core Four" have combined for 19 points through three games. Impressive for a group of forwards that struggled in previous playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' last series win over the Ottawa Senators was in 2004. The Maple Leafs defeated the Senators in seven games. After Ottawa forced a Game 7 with Mike Fisher's double-overtime goal in Game 6, Toronto slaughtered the Senators 4-1 to win the series.
21 years later, the Maple Leafs have a chance to knock out the Senators again.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs' record against the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs continues to grow. Toronto is 19-8 in 27 career playoff games against Ottawa.
The Maple Leafs are outscoring the Senators 69-48 in those 27 playoff games. Dominance.
With their Game 3 win, the Toronto Maple Leafs took a 3-0 series lead in a best-of-seven series for the second time in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68).
The first time was the 2001 Conference Quarterfinals against the Ottawa Senators.
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Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves on 20 shots in Game 3. After the game, he admitted that he'd like to have the goal he let in from Brady Tkachuk back.
It's not surprising the Maple Leafs goaltender was pumped to see Simon Benoit score the overtime winner. Watch below.
