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The Ottawa Senators' first playoff game in eight years didn’t quite go as they hoped. The Senators lost Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto's big guns showed up to play. Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists. William Nylander and John Tavares each contributed a goal and an assist. It’s the most goals ever scored by Toronto in a modern-day Battle of Ontario playoff game.
Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig replied for the Senators, who had more than their fair share of chances.
The storylines were straightforward:
- The Leafs' best scorers capitalized on their chances and the Senators did not.
- Linus Ullmark was outperformed by Toronto's Anthony Stolarz, as Ullmark allowed four goals on the first eight shots.
- The Senators looked good five on five, but struggled mightily with penalties. Toronto scored on the power play three times, going 3 for 6 needing less than 10 seconds to capitalize each time.
As with the start of most playoff series, the home crowd was fired up, and the home team tried to hit everything that moved. While that amounted to only five shots in the first period, Toronto made the most of them.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson opened the scoring, coming right down main street and beating Ullmark with a wrist shot from the high slot.
Five minutes later, Mitch Marner blew the zone early, streaking past Nick Jensen and Thomas Chabot. Marner was hoping for a turnover down low, and linemate Auston Matthews delivered. He hit Marner in stride for a breakaway, and Marner beat Ullmark to make it 2-0.
As the game began to settle into a more reasonable playoff pace, the Senators got on the board with a great forecheck by David Perron. He got it out to Dylan Cozens, who got a shot off on Stolarz. The big goalie fumbled the rebound and Drake Batherson buried it to cut the lead in half.
Early in the second, the game opened up with early chances for both sides. Brady Tkachuk had a breakaway but was shut down by Stolarz to maintain the Toronto lead. Shane Pinto also had a great opportunity, with lots of time, all alone in front of Stolarz, but couldn’t score.
That was crucial for the Leafs, because Toronto's power play was then able to go to work.
Just over four minutes into the period, Tim Stützle was called for boarding, and John Tavares immediately made the Senators pay. Tavares tipped a point shot on goal that bounced off Ullmark, right back to him, and he buried the rebound.
Then, after back-to-back calls on Ridly Greig and Adam Gaudette to set up a five-on-three, William Nylander's wrist shot on the ice made it 4-1 on Toronto's 8th shot of the hockey game. The call on Gaudette to set up the five-on-three could easily have been called embellishment on Auston Matthews.
Greig made it interesting early in the third, cutting the lead to 4-2, but that lasted just 45 seconds before Morgan Rielly restored the three-goal lead.
Finally, another power-play goal for Toronto with under 7 minutes to play. Matthew Knies made it 6-2, closing out the scoring.
With 43 seconds remaining in the game, things got a little feisty, with every player on the ice penalized during a scrum. Another one happened at the end of the game, but it did little more than to remind everyone that these teams don’t like each other much.
That sets the table nicely for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday night in Toronto at 7:30 pm.
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Toronto's big guns showed up to play. Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists. William Nylander and John Tavares each contributed a goal and an assist. It’s the most goals ever scored by Toronto in a modern-day Battle of Ontario playoff game.
Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig replied for the Senators, who had more than their fair share of chances.
The storylines were straightforward:
- The Leafs' best scorers capitalized on their chances and the Senators did not.
- Linus Ullmark was outperformed by Toronto's Anthony Stolarz, as Ullmark allowed four goals on the first eight shots.
- The Senators looked good five on five, but struggled mightily with penalties. Toronto scored on the power play three times, going 3 for 6 needing less than 10 seconds to capitalize each time.
As with the start of most playoff series, the home crowd was fired up, and the home team tried to hit everything that moved. While that amounted to only five shots in the first period, Toronto made the most of them.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson opened the scoring, coming right down main street and beating Ullmark with a wrist shot from the high slot.
Five minutes later, Mitch Marner blew the zone early, streaking past Nick Jensen and Thomas Chabot. Marner was hoping for a turnover down low, and linemate Auston Matthews delivered. He hit Marner in stride for a breakaway, and Marner beat Ullmark to make it 2-0.
As the game began to settle into a more reasonable playoff pace, the Senators got on the board with a great forecheck by David Perron. He got it out to Dylan Cozens, who got a shot off on Stolarz. The big goalie fumbled the rebound and Drake Batherson buried it to cut the lead in half.
Early in the second, the game opened up with early chances for both sides. Brady Tkachuk had a breakaway but was shut down by Stolarz to maintain the Toronto lead. Shane Pinto also had a great opportunity, with lots of time, all alone in front of Stolarz, but couldn’t score.
That was crucial for the Leafs, because Toronto's power play was then able to go to work.
Just over four minutes into the period, Tim Stützle was called for boarding, and John Tavares immediately made the Senators pay. Tavares tipped a point shot on goal that bounced off Ullmark, right back to him, and he buried the rebound.
Then, after back-to-back calls on Ridly Greig and Adam Gaudette to set up a five-on-three, William Nylander's wrist shot on the ice made it 4-1 on Toronto's 8th shot of the hockey game. The call on Gaudette to set up the five-on-three could easily have been called embellishment on Auston Matthews.
Greig made it interesting early in the third, cutting the lead to 4-2, but that lasted just 45 seconds before Morgan Rielly restored the three-goal lead.
Finally, another power-play goal for Toronto with under 7 minutes to play. Matthew Knies made it 6-2, closing out the scoring.
With 43 seconds remaining in the game, things got a little feisty, with every player on the ice penalized during a scrum. Another one happened at the end of the game, but it did little more than to remind everyone that these teams don’t like each other much.
That sets the table nicely for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday night in Toronto at 7:30 pm.
Continue reading...
