It鈥檚 probably not a case study that鈥檒l be written up in the annals of sports psychology. After allowing the Maple Leafs to score six goals on 24 shots in a Game 1 thrashing, Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark could have passed for composed in his remarks to the media this week.
The quirky Swede quoted Ted Lasso, the fictional soccer coach who encourages players to have short memories. Said Ullmark, paraphrasing a Lasso catchphrase: 鈥淛ust have the mind of a goldfish.鈥
Traffic in front of the net is primed to be part of the Ottawa Senators’ strategy, and 海角社区官网netminder says it’s his responsibility to take care
Traffic in front of the net is primed to be part of the Ottawa Senators’ strategy, and 海角社区官网netminder says it’s his responsibility to take care
Perhaps there was a mishap in translation, because in the early moments of Tuesday night鈥檚 Game 2, Ullmark was swimming in his crease as though he had gills. If he was trying to channel a goldfish, Ullmark looked like chum in the water at the mercy of hungry sharks. Ullmark gave up two goals on four shots to begin the game, bringing his save percentage for the series to a dim .714.
And for the Leafs聽鈥 well, let鈥檚 just assume it felt nice to take a turn as the teeth-bared predator while someone else played the quivering prey.
The Maple Leafs have been telling us they鈥檙e good for most of a decade, racking up big contracts and stats to burn. Tuesday night was on a shortlist of playoff moments when they had a chance to actually show us.
Thanks in no small part to the rock-solid work of goaltender Anthony Stolarz, the Leafs at least came away with the correct result聽鈥 a 3-2 overtime win that was far more of a squeaker than it should have been, with Max Domi wristing the winner over Ullmark鈥檚 blocker a few minutes into the extra frame. 聽On a night when all that early pressure on Ullmark was not sustained聽鈥 and Ullmark, to his credit, got better as the game went on聽鈥 the Leafs helpfully allowed the Senators back into a game that at one point had the makings of an easier 海角社区官网victory.
鈥淵ou鈥檇 love to control the whole game and be on the hunt,鈥 said John Tavares, the 海角社区官网centreman. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do a better job of finding our way through (rough patches) and regaining our momentum.鈥
For all that, they don鈥檛 ask 鈥淗ow?鈥 They ask 鈥淗ow many?鈥 In eking out the second victory of the Shanaplan era鈥檚 ninth playoff run, the Leafs achieved something they鈥檇 failed to do in any of the previous eight: Specifically, build a 2-0 lead in a series. The previous time Toronto鈥檚 NHL team held one of those, the year was 2002.
鈥淲e stuck with it,鈥 said Domi. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge win for our group. We needed that win.
The Leafs arrived in Game 2 with a commendable relentlessness out of the gate. Even before Morgan Rielly scored the opening goal on a feed from William Nylander after Rielly beat his defender to Ullmark鈥檚 far post for what amounted to a tap-in, the Leafs had the Senators and their goaltender in early panic mode. Mitch Marner hit an early post after Matthew Knies out-muscled Ottawa defenceman Thomas Chabot in a back-of-the-net puck battle that led to a too-easy pass into the slot. Before the first period was half over, the Leafs were up 2-0. The only measurable progress for Ottawa was on the penalty kill. A game after the Leafs scored three power-play goals a combined 20 seconds after faceoffs, it took 18 seconds for the Leafs to work a puck to a net-front-dominant Tavares, who put it in as though Ullmark was not even there.
On the other end, Stolarz more than announced his big presence. He also decked Senators pest Ridly Greig when Greig made the mistake of skating through Stolarz鈥檚 crease in a memorable second-period stoppage.
The Leafs were bracing for better than Ottawa鈥檚 haphazard, penalty-prone performance in Game 1. Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev said he expected to see the Senators 鈥減lay their best game of the season.鈥
Certainly the Senators were persistent. But let鈥檚 face it: The Leafs nearly beat themselves. In a listless second period from the home team, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk made it 2-1 on a power-play cued by a needless offensive-zone high-sticking penalty by Nick Robertson that spoke to Toronto鈥檚 foot-off-the-gas ennui. And with the Senators pressing late, Oliver Ekman-Larsson鈥檚 careless puck management led to the Adam Gaudette goal that tied it 2-2.
In other words, beyond the first period, Toronto鈥檚 flurries of pressure became few and far between. Ullmark steadied himself. The Senators, meanwhile, earned remarkably easy access to the home team鈥檚 zone. And Toronto鈥檚 early relentlessness never really reappeared, at least not for any sustainable stretch. Speaking of short memories, it essentially took one big win and a two-goal lead in Game 2 for the Leafs鈥 collective attention to wander. Berube will earn his paycheque attempting to snap them back to business.
鈥淔irst period was really good. I liked our start a lot. We came out playing on our toes 鈥 Second period, I thought they were the better team. We didn鈥檛 make plays. We kind of looked like we were just protecting the lead a little bit,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淭hird period was fine. We were in good shape. The (Gaudette) goal was the first shot we gave up in the third period. We were playing the right way, doing the right things 鈥 But we stayed with it and we ended up getting the win.鈥
Indeed, for all the warts, there was the scoreboard. The Shanaplan-era Leafs had won Game 1 in resounding fashion before. They beat the Bruins 4-1 in the 2019 first-round opener. They beat the Lightning 5-0 to begin the post-season in 2022. But both those years shared something in common. The Leafs lost Game 2 by multiple goals. With no Patrice Bergeron or Nikita Kucherov stoking fear from the other side, maybe the Leafs figured Tuesday鈥檚 game would be easy. It wasn鈥檛 that, but it was a win, with plenty of thanks to Stolarz.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our job to help him out a little bit more than we have,鈥 Rielly said of the 海角社区官网No. 1. 鈥淲e have some improvements to make.鈥
Still, there it is: A 2-0 series lead heading into Thursday鈥檚 Game 3 in Kanata, and the Leafs showing us, at least for a couple of games, that they might be learning what to do when there鈥檚 blood in the water.
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