The Battle of Ontario had a heartbreaking finish for the Ottawa Senators. The Senators came up short in their attempt to write a storybook ending in their first playoff series against their provincial rivals in 21 years. Trying to become only the fifth team in National Hockey League history to erase a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series, the Senators saw their season come to an end with a heartbreaking defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Senators weren’t able to push this series to the distance after the club dropped a 4-2 decision to the Leafs in Game 6 in front of 19,007 fans on Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Max Pacioretty scored the winner with 5:41 to go in the third, and William Nylander’s second goal of the night, into an empty net, iced it. “It was tight pretty much the whole series,” said David Perron. “I’m proud of the guys, how much they’ve grown this year, even from game to game. We tried to push this to Game 7. It’s tough.”
It was win or go home for the third straight game, and captain Brady Tkachuk promised before the puck was dropped that the Senators “would leave absolutely everything out there, physically, mentally, emotionally.” The atmosphere was electric, especially when Tkachuk scored in the second period and Perron tied it up in the third period. The two goaltenders, Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark and Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz, both had solid performances.
Perron tied the game 2-2 with 7:20 left by banking the puck in off Stolarz from below the goal line, but that didn’t last. This was the sixth time in team history that the club was trying to stave off elimination in Game 6. The Senators came in with a 2-3 record, including a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh in the East Final on May 23, 2017. It’s the fifth time in franchise history the Senators have been eliminated by the Leafs.
The Senators came into this game thinking they hadn’t played their best game of the series. The playoffs demand that you get better the further a series goes. This one was no different than the first four. Through 40 minutes, the Senators were down 2-1. The Leafs brought their best and made life tough for the Senators. The shots were 16-11 in favor of Toronto through two periods. Ullmark had to make some big stops as the Leafs had some golden opportunities. The chances for the Senators were few and far between, so the club needed a strong push in the third.
Tkachuk brought life back to the rink with his fourth of the playoffs to cut Toronto’s lead to 2-1 at 7:28 of the second period. He tipped a shot from Thomas Chabot from the point that Stolarz had no chance on. Nylander celebrated his 29th birthday in style. He opened up a 2-0 lead for the Leafs only 43 seconds into the second period by beating Ullmark on a 2-on-1 from the slot. That silenced what had been a boisterous building.
A late interference call on Tkachuk with 1:59 left in the first period turned out to be costly. Ullmark kept his club in the game by making six stops, but he would like to have the opening goal by Auston Matthews back. His shot on the power play beat Ullmark on the stick side low with 1:10 left. It looked like he never saw it, but that is a save he has to make in any game. That broke a shutout skid for the Leafs that dated back to Game 4.
The Senators registered only three shots in the first period. The Leafs came out with more urgency than they ever had during the loss in Game 5 at home. Max Pacioretty clanged one off the post on a great chance 11 minutes into the first period. Ottawa had a first-period power play and didn’t even register a shot.
The night certainly helped the sorts of Leafs fans who make the team their entire personality plan their next few weeks of nights out, avoiding what would have been an all-time nerve-wracking Game 7 in Toronto on Saturday night. Toronto will go on to face the Florida Panthers, after the defending Stanley Cup champions knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games on Wednesday night.
After falling behind 2-0, there was a brief moment of hope in the third period where Perron tied it up and the crowd was electric. It felt like it could've been a turning point. Instead, Pacioretty broke approximately 17,000 of the 19,007 hearts in attendance with a go-ahead goal, and the comeback ended a couple of goals short. This Senators season ended, but it’s clear that this era of this team is just getting started.
The first period was fast-paced. The whistles were few and far between. Much like the last game, the Leafs had a bit more of the offensive pressure in the first period. The Sens got the first power play of the game, when John Tavares hit Claude Giroux in the face with his stick for being as effective at an older age, but Ottawa got nothing going on the power play. Matthew Knies almost got a shorthanded chance, but Perron skated like it was 2012 to break it up.
The Leafs had a great chance to take the lead just after, but Ullmark made the initial save, then the puck hit the post, and then enough sticks got in the way behind Ullmark to force the puck wide. Thomas Stützle also had a couple of great chances but couldn’t quite handle the puck when he got in tight. Late in the period, Tkachuk got a little overzealous in the refs' opinion on Brandon Carlo, and Toronto went to a power play of their own. That ended up being too much, and Matthews somehow put the puck through on the ice softly, but Ullmark didn’t see it until too late through traffic and it snuck inside the right post.
The Sens mostly played the first they wanted, but found themselves down 1-0, and down 7-3 in shots. The second opened similarly disappointingly. A lofted puck was misplayed by Nick Jensen and Thomas Chabot. Jensen didn’t take the body on Nylander, and Chabot covered the pass even though Nylander was the only Leaf in the zone, so Nylander got to walk in and fire it exactly where he wanted.
Toronto had a golden opportunity to make it 3-0, but Ullmark got across to take away the chance from Pacioretty. But the Sens kept pouring on the pressure, and some good forechecking allowed Chabot to get a point shot through that Tkachuk deftly tipped in. That reignited the crowd, and the Sens got a few more good chances, even getting Stolarz to snow-angel, but they weren't putting anything in the net.
Toronto also got a great chance later in the period, but Ullmark made the initial save, and then Tavares' sharp-angle backhand hit the post then bounced between Ullmark's legs so he could cover. The Leafs had a couple more good shots but Ullmark was finding his groove and not letting anything in. The Sens survived a series of last-minute defensive zone draws, setting up a tense third period.
The third period started almost perfectly, with Stützle tipping the puck past Stolarz but off the crossbar. The Sens had their own tense moment when Ullmark came out to play the puck in the slot but didn’t get it to Nikolas Matinpalo, but the Leafs put it off the side of the net with the goalie out on adventure and the Sens survived unscathed. Fabian Zetterlund drew a penalty from Morgan Rielly by driving the net, and Rielly shoved Z into the net which went off its moorings.
The Sens' power play was atrocious, but then Perron went full "I've been there" and after the penalty expired, he snuck in and put it in off Stolarz's shoulder from below the goal line. It was pandemonium in the arena in a 2-2 game. My favorite part of that goal was the split-second that Perron celebrates alone before anyone else realizes it’s in the net.
The tie was unfortunately short-lived, as just after the return from commercial break, Ullmark made a shaky save on a Max Domi shot on a 2-on-1, and then on the ensuing cycle, Pacioretty got open and fired it home. Just after Scott Laughton got alone in front, but, once again, the posts came up big to keep the puck out. Ottawa started to pour on the pressure, getting the goalie out with two minutes left, but they couldn't ever get the great shot.
William Nylander put it wide of the empty net from his knees, and then after that icing, he got the breakout with the puck, Sanderson hauled him down, but he stayed with the puck and put it into the empty net. Ottawa got a ridiculous flurry of chances in the final 18 seconds to inflate Stolarz's save percentage, but the game was decided. 4-2 final, in the game and the series. The handshake line was fun to see, showing the respect these two teams have for each other when they're not in a battle. I think I speak for most of us when I say, may the Panthers now crush this team.
We'll have lots of reminiscing on the Sens season in the days and weeks to follow, but tonight, here are my thoughts on the season that was. The young core showed their strengths. Having Tkachuk, Stützle, and Sanderson locked up long term is huge for this team. They all showed their mettle this series and will be hungry to come back. Key unrestricted free agents include Claude Giroux, Nick Cousins, Adam Gaudette, and Anton Forsberg. I’d love to see Giroux back for a couple of years, and another year of Gaudette. Cousins is a toss-up, and I think I’m confident saying Forsberg's days as Ottawa's backup are over.
Key restricted free agents include Fabian Zetterlund, Tyler Kleven, and Nikolas Matinpalo. I think all three of these guys are back next year, and none of them have priced themselves outside the Sens' range yet. Kleven, in particular, showed up in the playoffs, and I'm excited to see the growth in those young defencemen next year. I’m also excited to see what Zetterlund can do when he’s actually used to this team's systems. Both he and Cozens were acquired with an eye towards their growth into next season and beyond. I loved hearing that crowd. Anyone who says Ottawa isn't a hockey town has been proven wrong. We're all hungry for meaningful games in Ottawa again.
Thank you to all of you, our faithful readers. You stuck with us through a bunch of very disappointing seasons and kept us going when SB Nation dropped most of its hockey coverage. We couldn't do this without readers. Thanks for all your comments: the gifs, the pump-ups, the disagreements with our analysis, the shared celebration and grief. Go Sens Go!
