OTTAWA — The Battle of Ontario is heading back to Toronto.
In front of another rollicking crowd that featured more blue and white than Game 3, goals from Tim Stützle, Shane Pinto, David Perron and an overtime winner from Jake Sanderson helped the Ottawa Senators keep their season alive with a desperate and spirited 4-3 OT win to force Game 5.
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With both a short-handed and power play goal, the Senators did well to win the special teams battle that the Leafs had previously won all series.
Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz looked average for the first time all series, allowing four goals on just 22 shots.
While the Leafs had flashes of brilliance, including Matthew Knies’ incredible second-period breakaway goal, the Senators stayed consistent in their play in a way the Leafs did not. The Senators now not only have a larger sliver of hope — they also have some momentum heading back to what could be a tense Scotiabank Arena for Game 5.
Here are some takeaways.
Senators win special teams battle
The first three games of the series were all about the Leafs’ dominance on special teams, particularly with a menacing five-forward power play. But things leveled off in Game 4. The Senators killing the Leafs four-minute power play in overtime was massive.
The Senators got shorthanded (Pinto) and power play (Stützle) goals past Anthony Stolarz midway through the first period. The Leafs went 0-4 on the power play.
Max Domi’s completely unnecessary roughing penalty during a face-off in the first period ended up costing the Leafs early. The Leafs needed to be more disciplined in Game 4. They weren’t. Moving forward, avoiding these kinds of penalties will be high on coach Craig Berube’s priority list.
If this series is any indication, the Leafs are going to rely heavily on their power play for any kind of deep playoff run. It’s worth wondering if this was an off night or the team’s power play coming back down to Earth.
Leafs can’t close out a series
A reminder: Coming into this game, this Leafs’ core’s playoff record with the opportunity to win a series? One win, 10 losses.
Add another loss to that tally. While the Senators played with energy, the Leafs were caught flat-footed too often.
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There’s been more talk lately of “killer instinct” around this team over the past few days, just as there was when the Leafs blew a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens in 2021. And while you can debate the merits of the term, what can’t be debated is that the Leafs’ record with the opportunity to advance in the playoffs is ugly. They knew they’d get the hardest effort of the series from the Senators and that proved true.
Another buzzword that’s been brought up as of late: Are things truly “different” with this team? What ends up happening when these playoffs are all said and done will answer that question.
The Leafs deserve credit for jumping to a 3-0 series lead. But in Game 4, things didn’t look all that different from recent playoff failures.
(Photo of Senators celebrating Shane Pinto’s first-period goal: André Ringuette / NHLI via Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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