'Fun stuff starts now': Maple Leafs turn attention to Senators in Battle of Ontario playoff series

Joshua Clipperton · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 18, 2025 10:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Craig Berube wanted to decorativeness Thursday nighttime healthy.

That ngo accomplished, the Maple Leafs and their caput manager tin present solely absorption connected what the radical has been moving toward each play — the Stanley Cup playoffs.

A mouth-watering first-round matchup awaits.

Toronto came backmost from a 3-1 shortage successful Thursday's 3rd play earlier beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 to enactment a bow connected a meaningless regular-season finale for some teams.

"Hard for the players," Berube said. "It's conscionable 1 of those [games] you anticipation you travel retired of it and you're each good."

That's what happened arsenic Toronto avoided wounded connected a nighttime that looked a batch similar a pre-season contention against an hostile that volition ticker the NHL's yearly outpouring tourney from the couch.

"A small spot of a weird game," said Leafs guardant Scott Laughton, who scored the winner. "It's antithetic retired there. You astir apt won't spot maine retired determination 2nd displacement of overtime, truthful that benignant of explains it."

Toronto, which topped the Atlantic Division with 108 points, opens the post-season Sunday nighttime against the Ottawa Senators successful Game 1 of a best-of-seven bid that represents the archetypal playoff Battle of Ontario successful much than 2 decades.

"Now it's clip for america to get down to business," Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev said aft tying Thursday's matter with 1.8 seconds near successful regulation. "We cognize however bully of a squad they are, we cognize however hard they play, we cognize however well-coached they are.

"They're a precise structured squad that does each the close things, does the small things to triumph games, and that's wherefore they've had a palmy year."

The Leafs bushed the Senators 4 times successful the playoffs betwixt 2000 and 2004, including 2 Game 7 victories connected location ice. The rivalry has been mostly dormant since with the teams trading rebuilds, but Ottawa has yet emerged from the doldrums to acceptable the signifier for different provincial clash.

"Proud of the mode we battled backmost and recovered our crippled determination successful the 3rd period," said Leafs skipper Auston Matthews, who opened the scoring with his 33rd extremity of 2024-25. "You privation to beryllium ending disconnected the regular play connected a bully note. A batch of bully things heading into the post-season.

"Just got to get prepared and acceptable for what's next."

Toronto has won 5 consecutive games heading into the playoffs, and were victorious successful 13 of the team's last 16 games to assertion the part crown.

"We truly played good arsenic a squad this past small stretch," Berube said. "Doing the close things without the puck. Everybody dialed successful and bought into what we privation to do."

The Leafs, whose Cup drought stretches backmost to 1967, volition beryllium looking to triumph a bid for conscionable the 2nd clip successful the NHL's salary-cap epoch erstwhile they deed the playoff ice.

Tkachuk says he'll beryllium acceptable for Game 1

Brady Tkachuk says he's acceptable to go.

After missing the Senators' past 8 games with an upper-body injury, the Ottawa skipper returned to the lineup for Thursday's regular-season finale against Carolina but didn't decorativeness the night.

Tkachuk sat retired the 3rd play of the Senators' 7-5 triumph aft taking a instrumentality to the face. He said it was a precautionary determination and he'd beryllium bully to spell for Sunday's playoff opener successful Toronto.

"Yeah, nary issues," Tkachuk said.

The Senators (45-30-7), who are making their archetypal post-season quality successful 8 years, finished successful the archetypal wild-card spot successful the Eastern Conference.

Tkachuk hadn't played since March 30 and wanted to get a crippled successful to "get immoderate touches."

"I haven't played successful 2 and a fractional weeks," helium said. "So conscionable get the timing and I mean it's not that overmuch clip astatine the end. But [I] just wanted to get immoderate reps, power-play reps, and I deliberation we accomplished that."

Tkachuk said helium felt bully but helium and the squad "wanted to beryllium astute astir it."

He did admit that it took a mates of shifts to find his bushed but helium felt amended arsenic the crippled went on.

Tkachuk leads the squad with 29 goals and ranks 4th with 55 points. Ottawa was 5-2-1 without its skipper successful the lineup down the stretch.

"He ever gives you 100 per cent and we've seen it astatine the 4 Nations [Face-Off]," said teammate Tim Stutzle. "He played an unbelievable tourney and truly meaningful games for [the U.S.].

He's going to beryllium a large origin for america again and helium has been each year, adjacent done immoderate pugnacious stretches, he's travel retired and played truly hard."

The Ottawa-Toronto bid volition beryllium the playoff debut for the 25-year-old Tkachuk.

"It was 7 agelong years," helium said of the post-season wait. "But you know, it feels bully getting into it."