Battle of Ontario: Stars shine for Leafs in convincing Game 1 victory over Senators

Joshua Clipperton · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 20, 2025 10:36 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Mitch Marner had a extremity and 2 assists arsenic the Toronto Maple Leafs dumped the Ottawa Senators 6-2 to instrumentality Game 1 of their first-round playoff bid Sunday.

William Nylander and John Tavares, with a extremity and an assistance each, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies besides scored for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves. Auston Matthews had 2 assists.

Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig replied for Ottawa, which got 18 stops from Linus Ullmark.

The best-of-seven matchup continues Tuesday with Game 2 astatine Scotiabank Arena earlier shifting to the nation's capital.

The bid opener marked the archetypal playoff Battle of Ontario showdown successful precisely 21 years erstwhile Toronto bested Ottawa 4-1 successful Game 7 connected April 20, 2004.

The teams went successful other directions aft that, with Ottawa enjoying a agelong tally of success, including a travel to the 2007 Stanley Cup final, portion Toronto made the post-season conscionable erstwhile betwixt 2006 and 2016.

The Leafs, who downed the Senators 4 times successful the playoffs crossed a five-year agelong successful the aboriginal 2000s, returned to the NHL's outpouring creation successful 2017 — the past clip the Senators made the post-season — with a young halfway led by Matthews, Marner and Nylander.

The Senators' rebuild, meanwhile, took a batch longer than expected but yet gained traction successful 2024-25. Ottawa skipper Brady Tkachuk made his playoff debut Sunday successful his seventh campaign.

Toronto, which has 1 bid triumph successful 9 tries successful the Matthews-Marner era, opened the scoring astatine 7:09 of the archetypal play erstwhile Ekman-Larsson fired past Ullmark's mitt to ignite the rink and nonstop fans gathered outdoors successful Maple Leaf Square into a frenzy.

Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson cleared a puck disconnected his extremity enactment aboriginal successful the period, but Marner took a agelong walk from Matthews moments aboriginal and roofed a changeable astatine 12:18 for a 2-0 lead.

Ottawa got connected the committee precisely 4 minutes aboriginal erstwhile Batherson was fastest to a rebound Stolarz was incapable to smother.

The Leafs goaltender stopped Tkachuk connected a breakaway aboriginal successful the 2nd earlier the Leafs' powerfulness play erstwhile to enactment erstwhile Tavares collected his ain rebound astatine 4:07 to marque it 3-1.

The Senators got successful much punishment occupation aboriginal successful the period, and Toronto struck 3 seconds into a two-man vantage erstwhile Nylander ripped his team's 4th extremity connected conscionable 10 shots astatine 7:19.

Fabian Zetterlund had a large accidental connected an Ottawa powerfulness play precocious successful the period, but Stolarz was determination to support the people astatine 4-1 done 40 minutes.

Greig got the Senators backmost wrong 2 precisely 4 minutes into the 3rd connected a delayed penalty, but Rielly made it 5-2 conscionable 45 seconds aboriginal connected a changeable that deed a Senators subordinate successful front.

Knies rounded retired the scoring connected different powerfulness play astatine 13:13 to enactment a bow connected an awesome Game 1 show from the Atlantic Division winners.

Different perspective, keeping focus

Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo's lone up-close acquisition with Toronto caput manager Craig Berube earlier being acquired up of the NHL commercialized deadline from Boston was watching the seasoned seat brag assistance the Cup erstwhile his St. Louis Blues bushed the Bruins successful Game 7 successful 2019.

"I lone had that representation of him successful TD Garden beating us," Carlo said. "But there's a crushed wherefore that happened, and I deliberation he's a large portion of it. I've loved his coaching and conscionable the mode that helium is truthful relatable."

Every playoff matchup is nether a microscope. The Battle of Ontario is simply a antithetic animal.

"There's pressure," said Ottawa caput manager Travis Green, whose playing vocation included a stint with the Leafs successful the aboriginal 2000s. "Especially successful this series, there's extracurricular pressure, there's extracurricular noise. I retrieve it from playing present however overmuch unit determination is, but that's the breathtaking part."

"It was amusive — a batch of fun," helium added. "Hopefully it's amusive again."