The Maple Leafs are off to the second spherical of the playoffs.
It simply took just a little longer than they might have favored.
Max Pacioretty scored the winner with 5:39 left in regulation as Toronto beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 to win the groups’ first-round playoff sequence 4-2 on Thursday.
William Nylander, with two objectives and an help, and Auston Matthews supplied the remainder of the offence for the Leafs, who led the sequence 3-0 earlier than their provincial rival gained two straight to place stress on a storied franchise with loads of previous post-season heartbreak. Pacioretty added an help for a two-point night time
Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves to tie a bow on the Battle of Ontario. Toronto, which improved to 2-13 in potential series-clinching video games since 2018 and gained a sequence for simply the second time within the NHL’s wage cap period, will face the Florida Panthers within the second spherical.
Brady Tkachuk and David Perron replied for the Senators, who made the playoffs for the primary time since 2017 following a protracted and painful rebuild within the nation’s capital. Linus Ullmark stopped 19 pictures. Thomas Chabot made added two assists.
Toronto grabbed a 3-0 sequence edge with a blowout opener and a pair of 3-2 extra time victories to push their opponent to the brink, however Ottawa stayed alive with a 4-3 extra-time victory in Sport 4 and a 4-0 shutout in Sport 5 that induced the collective blood stress of the Leafs’ tortured fan base to rise considerably.
Pacioretty, a heathy scratch to begin the sequence, bagged the winner off a move from Max Domi that beat Ullmark to the glove facet for his first purpose of the playoffs. Scott Laughton then hit the submit with an opportunity to ship the dagger earlier than Nylander iced it into the empty internet with 18.3 seconds left on the clock.
Matthews opened Tuesday’s scoring on an influence play with 70 seconds left within the first interval when he fired a low shot by visitors for his second.
The breakthrough got here after Tkachuk was whistled for interference after thumping Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo to the ice by the benches.
Elevated to the second line alongside Nylander and John Tavares for Sport 6, Pacioretty hit Ullmark’s submit earlier within the interval throughout a scramble earlier than Ottawa counterpart Tim Stutzle received his indicators crossed on the different finish on an excellent alternative.
Nylander, who turned 29 on Thursday, made it 2-0 simply 43 seconds into the second when he ripped his second on Ullmark after Pacioretty pressured a turnover from Senators blueliner Nick Jensen.
Ottawa received on the board at 7:28 when Tkachuk — group captain and a bodily power all sequence — tipped his fourth previous Stolarz to ship the towel-waving crowd right into a frenzy inside an incandescent Canadian Tire Centre.
Toronto, which beat Ottawa 4 instances in 5 playoffs within the early 2000s, got here near restoring its two-goal lead when Tavares poked a unfastened puck off the submit earlier than Ullmark denied Matthew Knies and Carlo off the push.
Chabot fired a shot that Stutzle tipped of the iron on Stolarz early within the third as the house facet got here near an equalizer.
The Senators went to the facility play halfway by the interval and didn’t get something going, however Perron scored with 7:20 left in regulation on a shot from beneath the purpose line that went in off Stolarz’s again to arrange the dramatic end.
Solely 4 NHL groups have come again from a 3-0 deficit to win a sequence — the 1942 Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings. Ottawa ahead Claude Giroux was a part of that Philadelphia group 15 years in the past that got here all the best way again in opposition to the Boston Bruins.
