A generation after starting, the Battle of Ontario rekindled in match 1 between the Maple Leafs and the Senators. And as he returned to the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Leafs were right for the senators.
The dominant victory 6-2 of the Leafs marked the third time that this Leafs nucleus won an opening match of the series in 10 tests. And that is suitable: this team was very different from recent iterations at the time of the playoffs. They smothered the senators, whose lack of experience in the playoffs appeared in taking unnecessary sanctions.
Of course, there are still a lot of hockey in this match. But if play 1 is an indication, it has the potential to be short.
Here are some take -out dishes of match 1.
Hot start for leaves
For all that the leafs can be accused of not always starting in time and not doing their best in the opening match of the playoffs (2-7 in standard openers), they have been straight. From top to bottom, they checked hard. They put their bodies in front of the photos of the senators. They played with energy and obtained traffic in front of Linus Ullmark.
And above all, they took advantage of their opportunities, marking twice on four shots. Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not look like a defender working through persistent injuries with his objective of opening the series.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson opens the scoring in the Battle of Ontario !! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/pxdj3wojhi
– Sportsnet (@Sportnetnet) April 20, 2025
And Mitch Marner did not look like a player with the weight of the world on his shoulders with his objective of an electric breakaway.
Mitch Marner, it was disgusting! 🤢 #Stanleycup
🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/ybuzdyvoth
🇨🇦: @Sportnetnet or broadcast on sportsnet + ➡️ https://t.co/4kjbdjvctf pic.twitter.com/jq6pwu3z1v– NHL (@nhl) April 20, 2025
With the way the leafs entered this series, there was a possibility that the internal pressure causes tight handles on the leafs sticks. This was not the case. Leafs were everywhere in the Hop senators. And they did not give up either.
The senses fail to impose in high danger zones
The senators were made mainly ineffective in the high danger areas. The meaning surpassed the Leafs 13-5 in the first period, but brought together only one chance of high danger, according to Natural Stat Trick. Ottawa ended the match with 11, but it was still not a strong costume for visitors.
The defense of the Leafs kept them along the perimeter and did not disturb them Anthony Stolarz until Drake Batherson scored the first goal of his team with a little less than four minutes to play in the first. After that, the senses continued to fight against the middle of the ice.
Brady Tkachuk is considered an X factor in this series because of his ability to wreak havoc in the corners and in front of the net. During the first 20 minutes, Tkachuk had three shots on the net – two of the blue line and one of the circle of the dose. This is not enough for a team of senators who had trouble generating goals closely. They ended the regular season with the 25th best high danger objectives for the rate.
Special Leafs Doom Senators teams
Total Maple Leafs Power plays goals through seven playoffs last year: one. Total Leafs Power plays goals through two periods against senators in match 1: two.
For all concerns about how senators could draw many penalties, they ended up spending an unnecessarily important time in the box. And the leafs made them pay. Their washer movement with the advantage of man was particularly creative and fast. When they were to be, the leafs looked at patient with the washer on the power game. John Tavares and William Nylander each converted with their first goals from the series.
The senators ended the regular season with the 19th best penalty killer and had to be disciplined when entering the series against a powerful power game. An offense of Tim Stützle of second period has launched a burst of minor penalties, including a rigorously graig cross -check which was demoted from five minutes to two.
Fans can debate the validity of these penalties all day, and they can have one point. But the senses were clearly not prepared for the rapid strikes of the leafs. A goal in the third period of Power Play by Matthew Knies was the last nail of the coffin.
Since January 1, only the Golden Knights of Vegas have had a better power game than the Leafs. Match 1 was a continuation of this efficiency, highlighted by the aforementioned Knies objective and the speed with which it happened.
Remember, it was a team of leafs that had trouble playing power in the playoffs. This was literally the difference between a serial victory and a loss for this nucleus sometimes. But against senators, the game of powerful power of the leafs could be a sign of good things to come.
Stolarz arrives in Ullmark in game 1
If the senators want to have a chance to upset the leafs in the first round, Linus Ullmark must be the best goalkeeper of this series and erase any doubt from the previous performance of the playoffs. The opener of the Sunday series turned out to be one to forget.
Ullmark granted six goals out of 24 shots of defeat. The defense of the senators and the murder of penalty played a role in these goals, but Ullmark failed to forge in contrast to Anthony Stolarz de Toronto. This game will only add to a fragile season record for goalkeeper No. 1 of the senses. Ullmark now has 3-7 all time in the playoffs dating from its beginnings in the playoffs three years ago with Boston Bruins, with a percentage of stops below 0.900.
He previously brought regular seasonal struggles. But senators need him to train immediately. Based on Anton Forsberg or Leevi Merilainen would be dice rolls at this stage of the season.
Stolarz, in comparison, looked like the goalkeeper who finished the regular season with a remarkable percentage of .926 stops. Although he went a few strokes with his glove, Stolarz was still moving well and ordered his net. He stopped 31 shots. This kind of composure could end up being another difference, not only between leafs and senators, but between this team of leafs and past iterations.
Winning the battle of goalkeepers is not something that leafs often do in the playoffs. So far, everything is fine this time.
Tkachuk’s beginnings in playoffs
Tkachuk waited for a long time to play the playoffs under the spotlights. But those who anticipated its beginnings in the playoffs were allowed to want more.
The striker obtained shots on the net and sometimes played physically, but did not get out of the level where we expected him. Tim Stützle Outhit Tkachuk, even offering the first great success of the match.
Tkachuk had a main opportunity to calm the crowd with an opportunity to escape in the second – when fans have liked “Brady Sucks!” Throughout the competition – but could not convert. He would have equalized the match for two, but the Leafs finally withdrew thanks to their special teams.
A great thing that Brady said learned to watch his brother Matthew in the playoffs was the importance of going from one match to another. He will seek to eliminate an effort losing match 1.
While we look at the stars of the series: a box that the leafs don’t always check, but have done it in match 1? Their stars arose. Obtaining multi-point nights from Marner, Tavares and Nylander is exactly what the leafs need.
The excellent exit pass of Auston Matthews deeply in his own area on the goal of Marner also deserves a little love. Add it and the leafs have offensive weapons that the senators do not have. Even if you had the argument that the blue lines of the two teams are equaled in the same way (although it felt due to debate in match 1), there is no doubt that has the power of the stars. This star power has sometimes failed to reach the moment for the leafs. But Rielly’s goal was the icing on the cake. The senators had no answer for the Leafs stars on Sunday.
(Photo by Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
