Senators keep the Battle of Ontario alive with 4-0 win over Maple Leafs, who have a 3-2 series lead

TORONTO (AP) — Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for the first playoff shutout of his career as the Ottawa Senators edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 on Tuesday night to cut the deficit in the teams’ first-round series 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.

“Our will to win was high and I think it paid off,” said Tkachuk. “It’s all about now resetting and getting refocused.”

Game 6 is Thursday in Ottawa.

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.

“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 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 extra-time decision that kept their 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 coach Travis Green said of postseason 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.”

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 defenseman’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.

The Leafs got a power play in the third 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.

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