Mitch Marner and his Maple Leafs have never had offensive issues in the regular season.
It’s been a different matter entirely when the calender flips to spring.
Toronto entered Sunday having put up two goals or less in 13 of its previous 14 playoff games. Last year’s series against the Boston Bruins saw the club connect on just one of 21 power plays in a seven-game defeat.
For at least one night, the dam burst for a star-studded roster with designs on finally making a deep run.
Marner had a goal and two assists as the Leafs dumped the Ottawa Senators 6-2 to take Game 1 of their opening-round series — the first playoff Battle of Ontario in more than two decades.
“We think of wins,” Marner said of filling Linus Ullmark’s net. “We’ve got to look forward to the next one.”
William Nylander and John Tavares, with a goal and an assist each, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves.
Auston Matthews added two assists on a physical night that saw the young Senators pay a heavy price for an undisciplined approach as the Leafs connected for three man-advantage goals in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.
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“It was intense,” said Tavares, who took a cross-check to the face from Ottawa forward Ridly Greig that was reduced from a major penalty to a minor upon review. “It’s called the Battle of Ontario for a reason. Hard-fought game. But we know we still can be a lot better.”
“Intensity ramps up,” said Toronto head coach Craig Berube, the man tasked with getting this group over its painful playoff hump. “Just gotta go play.”
Greig and Drake Batherson had the goals for Ottawa.
“Have to refocus,” said Ullmark after stopping 18-of-24 shots. “It’s just one game. That’s the beauty of it.”
The best-of-seven matchup continues Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena before shifting to the nation’s capital.
The series opener marked exactly 21 years since the teams last met in the playoffs when Toronto bested Ottawa 4-1 in Game 7 on April 20, 2004.
The teams went in opposite directions after that, with Ottawa enjoying a long run of success, including a trip to the 2007 Stanley Cup final, while Toronto made the post-season just once between 2006 and 2016.
The Leafs, who downed the Senators four times in the playoffs in the early 2000s, returned to the NHL’s spring dance in 2017 — the last time the Senators made the post-season — with a young core led by Matthews, Marner and Nylander.
The Senators’ rebuild, meanwhile, took a lot longer than expected, but finally gained traction in 2024-25.
“All year we’ve talked about committing to the process,” Senators head coach Travis Green said. “It’s no different now.”
Toronto, which has one series victory in nine tries in the Matthews-Marner era, opened the scoring at 7:09 of the first period when Ekman-Larsson fired the puck past Ullmark to ignite the rink and send fans gathered outdoors in Maple Leaf Square into a frenzy.
“The atmosphere was great,” Stolarz said after his first playoff start. “Had goose bumps when you stepped on the ice and the crowd goes nuts. I think that propelled us.”
Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson cleared a puck off his goal line later in the period, but Marner took a stretch pass from Matthews moments later and roofed a shot at 12:18 for a 2-0 lead.
Ottawa got on the board four minutes later when Batherson potted a rebound.
Stolarz stopped Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, who made his playoff debut in his seventh NHL season, on a breakaway early in the second before the power play went to work when Tavares scored at 4:07 to make it 3-1.
The Senators got in more penalty trouble and Toronto struck three seconds into a two-man advantage when Nylander ripped his team’s fourth goal on 10 shots at 7:19.
Fabian Zetterlund had a great opportunity on an Ottawa power play late in the period, but Stolarz was there again to keep the score at 4-1 through 40 minutes.
“Some key saves at some real key times,” Tavares said. “Speaks to the competitor that he is.”
Greig got the Senators within two exactly four minutes into the third on a delayed penalty, but Rielly made it 5-2 just 45 seconds later on a shot that hit a Senators player.
Knies rounded out the scoring on another power play at 13:13 to put a bow on an impressive opening-night performance from the Atlantic Division winners.
The message in the aftermath?
“It’s one game,” Berube said. “It’s going to get harder.”
Toronto’s bench boss was asked about the officials reducing Greig’s cross-check on Tavares to a minor in the second period.
“Not my call,” Berube said. “The referees and the league will look at things and make the calls they make. We’re not going to focus on that.”
Tkachuk was the target of numerous unflattering chants from the well-lubricated, holiday weekend crowd throughout Game 1.
“I could care less,” he said. “I don’t really give a (expletive) to be honest with you, that’s not going to affect me.”
