Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators
07:00 PM at Canadian Tire Centre
Watch on: TBS, truTV, MAX, CBC, SN, TVAS

Toronto leads the series 3-0, and is the first team to go up three games in any first-round matchup.

Them

Travis Green is not saying if the lineup will be changed. Greig seems to be playing hurt (as well as being profoundly annoying). Nick Jensen may also be injured. Brady Tkachuk definitely is not 100% after the Four Nations injury.

That doesn't mean any of them will sit out, but they had an optional skate today with no clues to lines.

They also called up their black aces:

Lines

Last Game (2025-04-24) via Daily Faceoff

Brady Tkachuk - Tim Stützle - Claude Giroux
Fabian Zetterlund - Dylan Cozens - Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig - Shane Pinto - Michael Amadio
David Perron - Adam Gaudette - Nick Cousins

Jake Sanderson - Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot - Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven - Nikolas Matinpalo

Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg

Us

If last game was a good time to bring in Max Pacioretty to get him used to playing again, this game is likely not the best time for changes. Status quo it is.

Lines

Last Game (2025-04-24) via Daily Faceoff which match today's morning skate.

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg - John Tavares - William Nylander
Max Pacioretty - Max Domi - Bobby McMann
Steven Lorentz - Scott Laughton - Calle Järnkrok

Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Anthony Stolarz - starter
Joe Woll

The Game

The Senators have a reputation as a never quit team, and I know there may be an expectation that I'm going to stoop to some schoolyard taunts, but I think that reputation is deserved. It's a key to success in the NHL, where the playoffs are orders of magnitude harder than the regular season and they've already figured this part out. You can't manifest skill you don't have just through will, however.

I've seen a team once where I could believe that they had quit in their playoff series. I'm not as good as many are at discerning emotional state from a television view of a hockey team. But one year the Islanders were so overwhelmed by Tampa, that they just stood up straight and stopped skating to any purpose. I don't expect to see a repeat of that tonight.

I want us all to need the broom gifs tonight, not for the Leafs, who I think are largely immune from the cloud of negativity and pessimism that envelops the team, but for the fans, who seem to need a booster vaccine every other day to remember that the Leafs are in the playoffs by right not fluke. I think we call all do with a big win.

Go Leafs Go! Crush those hopes and dreams decisively!

Game CoverageMaple Leafs Playoffs