TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs will have their second chance to try and advance when they host the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN).
The Senators avoided the sweep in Game 4 on Saturday when Jake Sanderson scored at 17:42 of overtime to give Ottawa a 4-3 win. It was the third straight game of the series to go to overtime.
“We’ve got to reset,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere in this building tonight.”
While the Maple Leafs have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season since 2016-17, they have won just one round, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round. In games where they could have eliminated their opponent with a win, they have gone 1-12.
“Of course you want to close it out as quickly as you can. We wanted to close it out in Game 4, but it didn’t happen,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “We’re not going to sit here and focus on the closeout. We’re going to focus on what we need to do to close it out.”
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews did not practice Monday because of rest but will play in Game 5. He spent about 30 minutes on the ice during Toronto’s optional morning skate.
“Just listen to the body sometimes and sometimes you feel like you need a little rest and time off the ice,” Matthews said. “It’s not a big deal. I think everybody is grinding right now. It’s that point in the season where it’s hard, physical hockey so you’re always going to go through different things. It’s nothing that’s abnormal.”
Matthews had the second-highest ice time among Toronto forwards in Game 4 at 26:23. He has six points (one goal, five assists) in the series.
Green said he has been pleased with how his team has tried to contain Matthews during the first four games.
“It’s not easy,” Green said. “One of the best players in the world. I think you’re not going to keep guys like that off the scoreboard; they’re going to get goals, they’re going to get points. I’ll say we’ve done an OK job and he’s still a real effective player in the series.”
Here is a breakdown of Game 5:
Senators: Ottawa is likely to use the same lineup as it did in Game 4. It was the first game in the series that the Senators decisively won the special teams battle, going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, the first time that they did not allow a power-play goal in the series, and 1-for-2 on the power play. The Senators also could rely on getting in lanes and blocking shots. They led that category 28-17 in Game 4, the first game in the series in which they blocked more shots than the Maple Leafs.
Maple Leafs: The Maple Leafs will use the same lineup for the third straight game when they attempt to win their first series on home ice since April 20, 2004, when they defeated the Senators 4-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. They were 27-13-1 at Scotiabank Arena during the regular season and are 2-0 at home in the playoffs.
Number to know: 6, the number of goals that Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander have combined to score in the 13 games the Maple Leafs have had a chance to eliminate an opponent since 2017.
What to look for: The Maple Leafs have held the advantage at 5-on-5 play during the series, outscoring the Senators 10-5. The five goals the Senators have scored are the fewest at 5-on-5 among any team in the playoffs. However, Ottawa has significantly outhit Toronto, ranking second in the playoffs with 188 compared to Toronto, which ranks last among the 16 playoff teams with 121.
What they are saying
“It’s going to take our best, simple as that. Obviously, a big win in front of our fans last game, but you know what, you’ve just got to focus on today. We’re facing, again, I’ve said it multiple times, but a very, very talented team. They play good at home. So it’s going to take our best game.” — Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot
“Just playoffs in general, you have two desperate teams every game. They play with a lot of desperation, and when you have a team fighting for their lives, you’re not getting a more desperate team than that. It’s one of those things in order to beat that team, you have to match that and in a way, have more desperation. If winning was easy, everyone would win. It’s not an easy thing to do.” — Maple Leafs forward Max Domi
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 — Travis Hamonic
Tyler Kleven — Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Leevi Merilainen, Matthew Highmore, Nick Jensen
Injured: Hayden Hodgson (lower body)
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg — John Tavares — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — Max Domi — Max Pacioretty
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Artur Akhtyamov
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)
Status report
The Senators did not hold a morning skate. … Greig did not practice Monday but is expected to play. … Woll will be the backup after missing practice Monday because of an illness.
