After two games, the Maple Leafs look different against the Senators
After two games in the most recent postseason edition of the Battle of Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs have left home with a firm grip on their series with the Ottawa Senators.
After playing with confidence in the series opener, the Maple Leafs received a significant push-back from the Senators in the second game on Tuesday. Yet, despite squandering a third-period lead, Max Domi’s goal in overtime to the Leafs a 3-2 win, and a 2-0 lead in the series.
It marks the first time Toronto has won the first two contests in playoff series since 2002.
One of the notable aspects from the win in Game 2 was how the Leafs didn’t crumble when facing adversity. In previous postseasons, Toronto has struggled to regain momentum after being punched in the mouth. While there’s still a lot of hockey to be played in this series, how the Leafs have beaten Ottawa twice is a good sign in how this year’s team is different from years past.
On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss what has been working for the Leafs during the first two games of the series.
Frank Seravalli: This is a leaf team that we have not seen. I’ve said that after Game 1. I’ll say it again today. Game 1 told such a different story to me, for this team, and now history, all the numbers are on their side. Now, I saw the tweet from our friend Pete Blackburn yesterday, and I could not help but laugh when the tweet was something like, ‘The Maple Leafs are 10-0 all time with a 2-0 series lead.’ He just said, ‘That’s a newfound way for Leaf fans to have their hearts broken.’ Yeah, I’m sure there will be part of that, even if they’re up 3-0 in this series because you don’t even have to look that far back to feel that pain. That said, this feels different this time, and to respond the way that they did after that significant pushback from the sends was very impressive.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I’ll be a broken record from Monday, but in a different way. That win last night also just felt very mature. In the past, if the Leafs were getting outplayed, they were getting dominated. They did not know how to win a game with their B-level or anything. It was like they have to play their absolute best and the bounces have to go their way.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…