TORONTO 鈥� The Senators won't go away in the Battle of Ontario.
The Maple Leafs 鈥� a team with a painful playoff past 鈥� now have 48 hours to regroup.
And the questions after another blown opportunity to close out an opponent have already begun.
Linus Ullmark made 29 saves to register the first post-season shutout of his career Tuesday as Ottawa edged Toronto 4-0 to cut the deficit in the teams' first-round matchup to 3-2.
The Leafs, who beat the Senators 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 2018, and have seen the margin for error significantly whittled down by their provincial rival.
"Everybody's fine in here," Matthews said. "The playoffs, it's a roller-coaster. It could be ups and downs. It's about staying as even-keeled as you possibly can and making adjustments when you need to."
The Leafs, who 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, will need to do just that after the Senators once again won the special teams battle in a tight-checking affair.
"I'm not feeling anything," Toronto head coach Craig Berube, in his first season with the club, said when asked if he's getting nervy vibes from a core that has stumbled badly in previous playoffs. "Our group was focused and ready to go."
The Senators, meanwhile, picked up their first playoff victory since 2017 in Saturday's 4-3 OT decision that kept the season going before again doing their best to plant a seed of doubt in the Atlantic Division winners' star-studded roster.
"It can change fast," Ottawa head coach Travis Green said of post-season momentum. "You can feel great about yourself, you can feel (crappy) about yourself or your team or where you're at. Those are the types of things that we've really talked to our team (about) throughout the season.
"I think it's paying dividends now."
Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens gave the Senators a 2-0 lead Tuesday before Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk added empty-net goals for Ottawa. Tkachuk and Stutzle bagged 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 鈥� 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.
"Our will to win was high and I think it paid off," said Tkachuk, Ottawa's captain. "It's all about now resetting and getting refocused."
The Senators 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 鈥� with plenty of post-season baggage, including a blown 3-1 series lead in 2021 against the Montreal Canadiens 鈥� 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 for Ottawa's second short-handed goal in as many games against the Leafs' five-forward setup.
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 and Tkachuk sealed it into the empty net.
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.
"We've been a good road team all season," Matthews said looking to Thursday. "I don't think there's any panic in this room. We won three, they won two.
"It's the ups and downs of playoffs."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
