The Senators won’t go away in the Battle of Ontario.
Linus Ullmark made 27 saves for the first playoff shutout of his career as Ottawa edged out the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 on Tuesday to cut the deficit in the teams’ first-round matchup to 3-2.
Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens gave the Senators a 2-0 lead before Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk added empty-net goals for Ottawa, which once again staved off elimination after picking up a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 at home Saturday. Tkachuk and Stutzle added two assists each for three-point performances.
Anthony Stolarz stopped 15 shots for the Leafs.
Only four NHL teams have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series — the 1942 Leafs, 1975 Islanders, the 2010 Flyers and the 2014 Kings.
Game 6 goes Thursday in the nation’s capital at Canadian Tire Centre.
Toronto, which beat Ottawa four times in a five-playoff span in the early 2000s, dropped to 1-13 in potential series clinching games in the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner era dating back to the 2018 playoffs. That lone victory came in a first-round triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning two years ago.
The Leafs took the opener of this series against its provincial rival 6-2 before back-to-back 3-2 overtime victories pushed them to a 3-0 lead. The Senators, meanwhile, picked up their first playoff victory since 2017 in Saturday’s extra-time decision that kept their season going.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 3:46 of Tuesday’s second period on a Chabot point shot that found its way past Stolarz through traffic following an offensive zone faceoff win for the defenceman’s first-ever playoff goal.
Toronto — with plenty of post-season baggage, including a blown 3-1 series lead in the 2021 playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens — looked disjointed as the period wore on before the home side finally started to push inside a tense Scotiabank Arena.
Ullmark had to be sharp on a Marner chance in tight before Senators forward Fabian Zetterlund hit the side of Stolarz’s net with the goaltender scrambling.
Leafs forward Steven Lorentz then had a terrific opportunity on a 2-on-0 with Calle Jarnkrok, but was unable to finish into a yawning cage.
Stolarz made a big stop on Tkachuk from the slot early in the third to keep Toronto down by just one.
The Leafs got a power play later in the period when Ridly Greig needlessly tackled Marner along the boards.
The Senators, however, broke the other way and Cozens scored his first at 8:24 when he took a pass from Adam Gaudette on a 2-on-1 and fired past Stolarz as Ottawa scored short-handed for the second time in as many games against a five-forward man advantage.
Matthews, who hit the post in OT on Saturday with the series on his stick, found iron again with five minutes to go in regulation before Stutzle sealed it into the empty net with 2:51 to play.
Ottawa had a great chance two minutes into the first when Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly had to clear a puck off the goal line.
John Tavares got a breakaway for the home side after intercepting a pass, but Ullmark was there to smother his effort.
The Leafs went to the power play and Matthews had a couple of good looks, while the Senators’ first man advantage saw defenceman Chris Tanev tie up Drake Batherson in tight with Stolarz at his mercy.
Matthews suited after skipping Monday’s practice to get some extra rest. The 27-year-old superstar centre missed time earlier this season with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
Senators forward Claude Giroux, a member of that 2010 Flyers team that erased a 3-0 hole against the Boston Bruins, played the 100th playoff game of his NHL career. The 37-year-old entered with 29 goals and 55 assists for 84 points across 99 post-season contests.
