OTTAWA — For the 15th time since 2018, the Maple Leafs have an opportunity to win a series-clinching game. Still up 3-2 in their first round series, the mood around the Leafs has certainly shifted after their dispirited 4-0 loss to the Senators in Game 5.
Can the Leafs win just their second game in 15 tries, and move on to the second round of the playoffs for just the second time since 2004? And can they do so with the pressure mounting and the talk of playoff demons haunting this Leafs core re-surfacing?
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“It’s on everybody on the team,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said on Wednesday, asked of whether his team’s core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares can get this team out of the first round. “All I hear around here is, ‘Core, core, core. Core Four.’ But it’s on everybody on the team. We are a team. It is on the whole team, not just four guys.”
And Berube has decided that team is set to look a little different in Game 6.
Here’s what we’re seeing and hearing ahead of Game 6 on Thursday.
The likely lines
Knies — Matthews — Marner
Pacioretty — Tavares — Nylander
McMann — Holmberg — Domi
Lorentz — Laughton — Järnkrok
McCabe — Tanev
Rielly — Carlo
Benoit — Ekman-Larsson
In the end, Berube made one significant change: Max Pacioretty to the left wing of the second line — a problem spot all series for the Leafs. Just about every viable option short of Pacioretty had been used in the first five games, including four different left wingers in Game 5 alone.
What’s interesting about that is Pacioretty spent more time on that line with Tavares and Nylander than anybody else during the regular season. They had so-so success, mostly early in the season. Pacioretty has looked sluggish in this series, but still has the kind of size, skill, and I.Q. to make a difference there. And while he isn’t the quickest skater around, that line tends to play at a slower pace anyway.
Also consequential is Pontus Holmberg’s move to the middle of the third line. The hope for the Leafs is that he can stabilize that group defensively. — Siegel
The big questions
Will the Leafs’ stars produce offensively when it matters?
This is a question that has been asked ad nauseam in Toronto, but with good reason: Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have combined for just 14 points in those 14 potential elimination games through their NHL careers. Just for reference, they have combined for 2.29 points-per-game through their regular season careers. The drop off in production was never more evident than in Game 5, when each had games they’d like to forget: They had zero points and were each minus-4.
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The duo’s history of underperforming with their season on the line must change for the Leafs to beat the Senators in Game 6. The team’s secondary scoring, as predicted, has dried up. Strong two-way play with necessary production from Matthews and Marner would likely put this series to bed. The Leafs team feels like its itching for someone, anyone, to put the team on their back. Another night of not showing up when it matters will likely put this core one step closer to being broken up. — Kloke
Can the power play, once again, ice the Sens?
A big part of whether those stars come through might come down, at least in part, to the power play. That was the case early in this series when the power play was maybe the biggest factor in the Leafs racing out to a 3-0 series lead. The Sens had no answer for the Leafs’ five-forward No. 1 unit.
In Games 4 and 5, however, they stopped the Leafs all seven times, including some crucial moments when the Leafs had a chance to regain momentum. When that top group has been assertive, with a shot mentality, they’ve been effective. Not so much when tension and hesitation has set in. The power play as a whole will have to be more mindful of a Sens penalty kill that’s struck twice already shorthanded.
Matthew Knies and John Tavares have been the two big difference-makers, with four goals combined in this series. — Kloke
Can Anthony Stolarz return to his regular-season form?
Somewhat quietly, the play of one of the Leafs’ most valuable players has fallen off as this series has dragged on. After ripping off a .934 save percentage through Games 1 and 2, Stolarz has posted an .862 save percentage through Games 3, 4 and 5. That’s happened as the Leafs have allowed far fewer shots in those games. The Senators are finding ways to beat Stolarz and, as a result, find themselves back in the series.
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It’s all led to some, again, quiet concern over whether Stolarz can handle this kind of increased workload for the first time in his career. He simply hasn’t moved as quickly or shown the same sharpness with his glove that he did through the regular season, when he balanced the workload with Joseph Woll.
It doesn’t feel like Berube wants to move on from Stolarz. He wants to have one goalie and run with him. Whether or not Stolarz can fulfill those duties? His play in Game 6 could answer that question. — Kloke
Pre-game reading
• The Matthews and Marner playoff questions are back. Will it be different this time?
• Coin-flips are this team’s brand. It’s biting them at the worst time.
• Chris Johnston explores the nightmare fuel that was Game 5.
• We’ve seen this movie before. Sean McIndoe takes a “fun” look at how this all might end.
How to watch
The puck drops in Ottawa at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sportsnet, CBC, TVAS and TBS.
(Photo of Max Pacioretty: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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