After a Game 4 overtime victory on Saturday night, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk skated off the ice, confidently yelling at the fans, "We'll be back."
He was spot on.
Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle each had a goal and and two assists as the Senators defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0. Sens goalie Linus Ullmark played his best game of the playoffs, making 27 saves for the shutout. Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens each scored for the Sens, who now force a Game 6, which will take place back in Ottawa on Thursday night.
Both teams had some solid early chances in the first six minutes. In a goalmouth scramble, the puck trickled behind Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz, and Drake Batherson dove to try to swat it in. However, Morgan Rielly was quick to clear it away, a split second before Batherson’s stick blade arrived.
Shortly after, at the Toronto blue line, Nick Jensen made a pass right onto the stick of John Tavares, sending him alone on a breakaway. But Jensen hustled back in time to disrupt the play, taking away Tavares's forehand shot. Tavares's backhand attempt, however, wasn't particularly threatening.
Things got feisty near the end of the first period as the Senators and Leafs traded cross-checking penalties. Ridly Greig caught Matthew Knies, and then Morgan Rielly clobbered Thomas Chabot. While Greig's penalty was barely a minor, Senators head coach Travis Green was hollering for a major penalty on Rielly for the hit on Chabot.
Despite just three shots in the first period, Ottawa got on the board first.
After a faceoff win by Tim Stützle, Claude Giroux used a bit of interference to create some space for Thomas Chabot at the point. Chabot had time to walk the line, dust it off, and snap one in from distance off Stolarz’s shoulder, off the crossbar and in.
The game was filled with great chances at both ends that were stolen away by desperate defenders with last second stick checks.
In the third period, after a bad neutral zone holding penalty on Ridly Greig, it appeared to open up an opportunity for the Leafs. However, Ottawa slammed that shut when Dylan Cozens scored shorthanded to make it 2-0 on a perfect 2-on-1 feed from Adam Gaudette.
The Sens played smothering defense after that, continually chipping the puck out of the zone and getting pucks deep. At times, it seemed almost too conservative. The Leafs had several great chances in tight, including Auston Matthews ringing one off the post.
But it worked.
The Leafs pulled the goalie early, and after the Senators got it deep, Claude Giroux fed Stutzle in front and he somehow got it through a couple of sprawling Leaf defenders. Tkachuk added a second empty netter to close out the scoring, threading the needle through the legs of Mitch Marner.
The Senators have now cut Toronto's lead to 3-2 and will host Game 6 for their final home game of the series on Thursday night. Not only do Ottawa fans get to enjoy playoff hockey in May for the first time in eight years, but now they're starting to believe in what seemed impossible three days ago.
