OTTAWA -- The Toronto Maple Leafs will try for a third time to eliminate the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference First Round when the two teams meet in Game 6 of the best-of-7 series at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, MAX).
Easier said than done.
The Maple Leafs are 1-13 in games during the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner-William Nylander era when they've had the opportunity to close out an opponent and advance during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are 0-2 in those situations thus far in this series, having won the first three games before a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 and 4-0 defeat on home ice in Game 5.
“Ready to go. Business. Let’s go,” coach Craig Berube said when asked what the mood of the team was like.
Toronto leads the series 3-2 but has experienced issues putting teams away in the past. To that end, the Maple Leafs have won one postseason series since 2004, that coming in 2023 when they eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the first round.
“I definitely think you want to have a very high sense of urgency tonight,” said Matthews, the Maple Leafs captain. “You want to go out, compete, have fun, and do it for the guy sitting next to you in the room.”
Meanwhile, the Senators can take the next step in hopes of becoming the fifth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series, joining the 1942 Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings, the 1975 New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins, and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks.
With two consecutive wins, they're halfway there. But captain Brady Tkachuk cautioned against looking too far ahead.
“(We) just have to have that same mindset of win-or-go-home,” he said. “Nothing else to save it for. Same message as the past couple of games: Just leave it all out there, physically, mentally, emotionally, and the game usually takes care of itself.”
The Maple Leafs own an all-time series record of 6-0 when taking a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 series.
Teams that hold a 3-2 lead in a Stanley Cup Playoff series have gone on to win 79.2 percent of the time (357-94) and 80.7 percent of the time (217-52) when opening the series at home.
Here is a breakdown of Game 6:
Maple Leafs: Veteran forward Max Pacioretty has been bumped up to the second line with Nylander and John Tavares. That line showed flashes of good chemistry earlier in the season before Pacioretty ran into injury woes, and Berube feels they can again, especially with Pacioretty’s penchant for causing chaos around the opposition crease. He’ll take the spot of Pontus Holmberg, who slides into Pacioretty’s former spot on the third line with Max Domi and Bobby McMann.
Senators: Ottawa understandably is sticking with the same lineup after back-to-back victories. The Senators will continue to rely on defenseman Jake Sanderson, who is fourth in average ice time per game (27:21) during the playoffs, trailing only Brian Dumoulin of the New Jersey Devils (29:21), Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars (28:39) and Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild (27:45).
Number to know: 26. That’s the consecutive number of power plays the Maple Leafs have failed to score on in games in which they could eliminate an opponent, going back to Game 7 of the first round of the 2018 playoffs, a 7-4 loss at the Boston Bruins.
What to watch for: Berube wants better offense from his team and is looking for his defensemen to join the rush more. The danger is that could create odd-man rushes for the Senators, who have taken advantage of those situations in Games 4 and 5. It will be interesting to see who wins this cat-and-mouse game of X's and O’s.
