Despite being up 3-1 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series with the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs are beginning to hear whispers of their recent failures to clinch playoff series.
The Maple Leafs have lost 12 of their last 13 potential series-clinching games and will host Game 5 in Toronto on Tuesday night following a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 at Ottawa on Saturday.
Toronto coach Craig Berube tried to talk his way around the elephant in the room.
“Not going to look at it too much. Didn’t get a bounce. Could have ended it. Hit a post,” Berube said. “I don’t think that was the case tonight. I thought our team played extremely hard, did a lot of great things. We gave up four shots in two periods (the second and third). I mean, we played hard.”
The Maple Leafs battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in Game 4.
“We played a hell of a game, just being able to bounce back from 2-0, 3-2. I thought we had a lot of chances in overtime. So, we like where our game is at,” said goaltender Anthony Stolarz, after his first defeat in 12 games. “Boils down to just making one more save on my end. But all in all, I thought it was a really good effort by the guys.”
Toronto star center and captain Auston Matthews did not practice on Monday, but the team said it was only for rest. He played 26:23 on Saturday.
John Tavares did practice on Monday. He missed part of overtime in Game 4 after a hit by Senators’ defenseman Artem Zub but returned.
“I don’t think there is any concern. He had to go off,” Berube said. “At the time, we had a power play, and he was not out there. But it is what it is.”
Defenseman Jake Sanderson’s goal 17:42 into overtime in Game 4 gave Ottawa a chance to play at least one more game.
“It was awesome,” Sanderson said of the celebration with his teammates after scoring the game winner. “Especially just ending up on the glass there and turning to (the fans) so excited. I feel like we’ll enjoy this for a little bit tonight. But shift our focus onto the next game pretty quick here.”
Sanderson, who also had an assist, sent a one-time high wrist shot from the left point toward the net and Stolarz, who was screened and did not see the puck.
“I think I was coming off a long shift, so I was gathering myself and then saw it go in,” Senators’ captain Brady Tkachuk said. “Just a relief. I mean, what a goal, what a timely goal. I honestly can’t even really describe the feeling. It happened so fast. And to do it in front of this unbelievable fan base that’s sticking with us on this hard road ahead of us — it was a special moment.”
It is the first playoff experience for Ottawa’s young core.
“You’ve got to go through the experience a little bit,” said David Perron, whose goal 7:32 into the third period gave the Senators a 3-2 lead. “And it’s nice that we’re able to kind of start building our game.”
–Field Level Media
