Senators cement upper hand on Leafs as potential Battle of Ontario looms in playoffs

However not solely did Saturday night time’s contest, a 4-2 Senators win, imply one thing to each groups when it comes to the standings — it may foreshadow a post-season matchup.

Not too long ago, the Senators have had the higher hand in opposition to the Maple Leafs, profitable 4 straight in opposition to their greatest rival, courting again to final season, previous to Saturday night time’s tilt.

And the Sens stored it rolling on Hockey Evening in Canada to comb the three-game season collection.

The important thing for Ottawa has been shutting down Toronto’s massive weapons and conserving their very own firing. It was tight-checking, bodily, feisty hockey as each groups’ stars had been unmistakable, however Ottawa’s had been merely higher. 

All of it had the air of a playoff preview.

“One place that beats profitable on Saturday night time, and that is house, however this one feels fairly darn good,” stated Linus Ullmark.

As Ottawa closes in on its first playoff spot in seven seasons, there’s a reasonable likelihood it finds Toronto within the first spherical. The Senators at the moment are inside 4 factors of Toronto and Tampa Bay for second and third place within the Atlantic division.

Merely put, if Ottawa was to proceed climbing the standings, it will be a foul matchup for Toronto.

“I believe this time round, it seems like we’re not as happy as we had been final time,” stated Ullmark concerning the Senators’ second six-game profitable streak of the season. “And so we all know that we wish to go for seven (straight wins), then eight, 9 and simply maintain constructing.”

A doable rationalization as to why the Senators have constantly crushed Toronto is that these video games merely imply extra to them.

Ask any Senator how amped up they’re to play Toronto, and they’re going to give a solution like Jake Sanderson did.

“I do not know. I believe we simply get fired up for this recreation,” stated Sanderson.

Let’s look at how Ottawa matches up in opposition to Toronto. On the season, Toronto has scored three objectives in three video games. That’s been primarily as a result of Shane Pinto and linemates Michael Amadio and Ridly Greig have restricted Auston Matthews to just one aim within the two video games he’s performed in opposition to Ottawa, and it got here off a blunder with the puck by Ullmark.

Whereas the error was paying homage to Patrick Lalime within the early 2000s, Ullmark rebounded to play excellently, stopping 21 of 23 pictures.

“I set to work on my dangles a little bit bit,” Ullmark joked post-game.

Historical past doesn’t need to repeat itself.

The Pinto-Amadio-Greig line has solely allowed six objectives in 116 minutes at five-on-five this season whereas matching up in opposition to the hardest opponents. Plus, it tends to get beneath Toronto’s pores and skin due to Greig, whose fame from final season is both the slapshot empty-net hero or villain, relying on the fanbase.

Greig fought Scott Laughton on Saturday.

Late within the third with the sport on the road, Amadio intercepted a puck that was headed to Matthews for a positive backdoor aim, took it the opposite approach and buried and empty netter. The road scores, fights and defends. 

Ottawa confirmed the way it can shut down Toronto’s high-power offence with the trio, and it’s not like Toronto’s monitor file within the playoffs is stellar. The Greig-Pinto-Amadio trio ranks 108th of 430 eligible mixtures in anticipated objectives allowed per 60 at 2.07, in keeping with Evolving Hockey. Swap Amadio for Nick Cousins and the road is 46the within the league in that very same class. Ottawa has choices to cease Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and firm.

In the meantime, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk love enjoying Toronto. The duo is 11-9-3 in opposition to Toronto since Stutzle entered the league in 2020-21. They’ve thrived.

Since Tkachuk and Stutzle’s present linemate, Claude Giroux, joined the workforce within the 2022-23 season, the Senators are 7-3-1 in opposition to Toronto.

The trio was extraordinarily profitable two seasons in the past when all three posted profession highs in factors as Senators whereas primarily enjoying collectively.

This season, coach Travis Inexperienced has break up them up at instances to supply balanced scoring, however he reunited them final month.  

Statistics mirror play at 5-on-5 in keeping with Pure Stat Trick

The road works effectively collectively, as Stutzle injects tempo, playmaking and zone entries, Tkachuk is the bruiser and scorer whereas Giroux does a little bit of each whereas offering elite hockey IQ.

In opposition to Toronto, the road was dominant. After Ottawa fell down 1-0, it hopped hopped over the boards instantly and struck for the game-tying aim 78 seconds later.

Tkachuk gained a battle and threw the puck to Stutzle on the hash marks. As Giroux drew defenders, Stutzle handed it to Sanderson who wired it house to tie the sport. Traditional.

Then, after Toronto re-took the lead at 2-1, the road produced one other good shift that left a drained Leafs workforce scrambling and allowed David Perron to capitalize and tie the sport 2-2.

This season, 5 of Stutzle’s objectives have been assisted by Tkachuk and 16 of Tkachuk’s objectives have been assisted by Stutzle. On Saturday night time, their line primarily went up in opposition to Marner’s line. They dominated with a 15-7 shot share and an anticipated objectives share of 80.4 per cent. One other good signal if the groups match up within the playoffs.

What’s fascinating is that Ottawa’s scoring success appears to be reliant on that prime line.

For a lot of the first half of the season, Tkachuk and Stutzle performed collectively with out Giroux. They had been break up up on Dec. 29 in opposition to Minnesota when Ottawa gained 3-1, and instantly went chilly.

Over the following 13 video games that Tkachuk and Stutzle had been separated from late December to mid-January, Tkachuk notched 4 factors and Stutzle recorded 5. Ottawa was shut out 5 instances, whereas averaging the fewest objectives per recreation within the league at 1.85.

When Toronto rolled into Ottawa on Jan. 25, Inexperienced reunited Tkachuk and Stutzle alongside Perron. Stutzle scored to start his 14-game level streak, however the line was in any other case quiet as Tkachuk’s pointless streak prolonged to 10 video games.

The following day in opposition to Utah, Giroux changed Perron and scored due to a Stutzle set-up, which snapped his 13-game goalless drought. Then, Giroux arrange Tkachuk to snap his personal 10-game drought. Ottawa proceeded to win its subsequent two video games, scoring 11 objectives in whole.

When Josh Norris obtained harm in opposition to Minnesota on Feb. 1, Inexperienced reshuffled the strains once more to unfold out the expertise. Ottawa went on to lose 5 of six with the trio break up up, averaging solely 2.6 objectives per recreation.

After the 4 Nations Face-Off hiatus and Tkachuk’s return to the lineup in opposition to San Jose, the trio was reunited. Since then, each Tkachuk and Stutzle have scored time beyond regulation winners. Stutzle has assisted 4 of Tkachuk’s six objectives since his return on March 1. The road has mixed for twenty-four factors within the eight video games.

Within the meantime, Ottawa has averaged probably the most objectives per recreation within the league at 4.25, going 7-0-1 in that stretch.

Giroux took it house Saturday night time by throwing a puck on aim that hit Chris Tanev in entrance for the game-winner.

“We’re enjoying the appropriate approach. We performed for 60 minutes the best way we needed to,” Giroux instructed Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas after the sport.

Toronto’s netminder Anthony Stolarz was impressed.

“They’re simply throwing pucks on the internet and turning hen s–t into hen soup and simply getting bounces,” stated Stolarz. “Possibly that’s one thing we will take from them and incorporate into our recreation as a result of it appears to be working for them.”

But it surely isn’t simply the Senators ahead strains. If Ottawa was to play Toronto within the playoffs, it will have the perfect defenceman and goaltender within the collection in Sanderson and Ullmark. Toronto’s edge is in its Core 4 and playoff expertise, however neither has confirmed to be useful within the post-season. Ottawa brings exuberance, lacks strain, is enjoying higher in the meanwhile and seems to have Toronto’s quantity.

Who wouldn’t wish to see the Battle of Ontario within the first spherical of the playoffs?