The Battle of Ontario is over: Behind the scenes of the Maple Leafs' Round 1 victory

New York Times

02-05-2025

OTTAWA — Tie Domi threw his arms out wide. In the bowels of the Canadian Tire Centre, the place he had celebrated his own wins in the Battle of Ontario a generation ago, he hugged a bare-chested Mitch Marner.
The Leafs star winger nearly spilled his can of Molson Canadian under Domi's weight. It would have been worth it in the moment. For just the second time since 2004, Marner and the Leafs had won a playoff round.
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One Leafs legend embraced another future legend in the making, connected by a now-common thread: playoff wins over a provincial rival.
Despite the anxiety that was seemingly swallowing the Toronto Maple Leafs whole coming into Game 6 after laying an egg in Game 5, the Leafs kept their playoff demons at bay for one night, and one round, with a 4-2 victory.
These are the scenes behind the Leafs winning the Battle of Ontario, as they take steps towards their ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup.
The Maple Leafs were starting to get a little bored. Restless, even.
They had been hanging out in Kanata, a small, sleepy suburb of Ottawa, for a few days now. Game 4 in their first-round series was approaching. Their hotel was far from restaurants and attractions. Whereas a series against a different opponent might have offered a stay in a larger, downtown metropolis, the Leafs decided to be isolated in their hotel from, well, distractions.
The Leafs booked an entire floor of their hotel for their team.
'It reminds me of the World Juniors a little bit, where you're just stuck in a hotel,' Matthew Knies said.
While normal hotel stays might see players bump into each other now and then, closeness was unavoidable during the first round.
'(Matthews') room gets pretty loud. I think guys are always going in there. He's got the bigger room,' Knies joked.
There were no small dinners for the team's different cliques, only large team dinners every night.
Some teammates played poker in their downtime. But during this series, a new tradition emerged: After procuring a Mario Kart-themed deck of Uno cards, a growing contingent of players played Uno deep into the night.
'It's been good, being bunkered down in the hotel,' Scott Laughton said.
Half of the team had a view of a golf course that backed onto their hotel. They would pass time watching local golfers get their first swings of the season and comment appropriately.
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The Leafs' efforts were paying off. They felt separated from the pressure growing around them.
'I think we've done a really good job of separating ourselves,' Laughton said. 'And I think you've got to keep it light. At the end of the day, it's another game. Yeah, there's some pressure, but we've done a good job. We have some fun in the hotel together, just being around each other.'
But being so isolated, and being away from family members, led to those feelings of restlessness. Once night fell, many Leafs would stroll throughout the course, looking for any fresh air possible.
By the time the Leafs returned to Kanata for Game 6, they had been spurred on. They wanted to end this series for good.
'Ready to go' was how head coach Craig Berube described his team's attitude ahead of Game 6. 'Business. Let's go.'
The Leafs' morning skate ahead of Game 6 was far quieter than usual. Morgan Rielly was the only player breaking the silence, hooting and hollering with every goal in an exaggerated and hilarious way.
You got the sense that after blowing two chances to end the series in Games 4 and 5, this team was full of newfound resolve. They were done with the jitters they had in Game 5.
'I wish we were playing a 1 p.m. game,' Laughton said. 'You don't get the best naps on these days.'
After the puck dropped, the Leafs took an early 2-0 lead. They got goals from their stars in a way they needed to, including an opener from Auston Matthews.
'Our captain led the way,' Berube said. 'Work ethic and competitiveness for the whole game. It was high-end.'
But the Senators came back to tie the score.
During the game's intermissions, Brad Treliving paced through the halls. He sat quietly during the game, chin in his hand, watching the team he had assembled.
The series would come to a close thanks to some unexpected characters.
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Max Pacioretty scored a crucial third-period goal with just over five minutes left to create a 3-2 Leafs lead. Four games earlier, Pacioretty was a healthy scratch. A few years earlier, Pacioretty's career was in doubt because of continued injuries.
'You keep playing because you want to pitch in,' Pacioretty said. 'I thought I was done playing a number of times.'
Five minutes after Pacioretty's goal, the Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson raised his stick high in the air, hoping to smash a slap shot past Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz and tie the score. Instead, Laughton threw his body in front of the shot. He blocked it, and William Nylander took the puck towards an empty net. He iced the series, thanks in large part to Laughton's efforts.
After the game, Laughton smiled with his teammates. He carried a giant bag of ice around his wrist.
'That is laying it on the line,' Berube said. 'That is how you win a series right there.'
WHAT AN EFFORT ON THE EMPTY-NET GOAL pic.twitter.com/2DHkgjTb8J
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 2, 2025
As Laughton bumped into teammates, the swaggering sounds of one of the Leafs' latest win songs, 'Texas' by BigXthaPlug, echoed throughout their dressing room. The song pulsated. But it would be the only song heard. This wasn't going to be a party.
Soon, their giant dressing room speaker quieted. And when it did, it was easy to reflect.
Throughout the build-up to the playoffs, the word heard often around this Leafs team?
Different.
Was this team different? Did it feel different? Would this season offer different results?
Their post-game actions following their series win would suggest so. Two years ago, when the Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning for the core's first playoff series win, you could have charged admission to the vibrant party around their dressing room after the game.
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But within minutes of the game ending and a shirtless Nylander lugging his hockey bag onto a cart to be carried back to Toronto, the Leafs dressing room was empty and silent. A few bags of pretzels and empty cans of beer were scattered through the room. For the most part, there was nothing but empty bottles of expensive water to suggest a professional hockey team had occupied the space for hours earlier.
The Leafs themselves didn't want to hang around and soak up their surroundings and their victory. They were too focused on what was coming next.
'We expect seven games,' Oliver Ekman-Larsson said with a serious tone. These are warranted expectations; Ekman-Larsson is not even a year removed from winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers. He understands, as the rest of the Leafs probably do, that winning one round shouldn't lead to outright jubilation. 'It's tough, the playoffs. So it's just a bonus getting it done now.'
For an hour or so, things certainly did seem different.
These Leafs weren't celebrating like a young team, eager to taste playoff success for the first time. They had quickly become a veteran team thanks to the additions Treliving had made and the experience their core had attained.
Long after players had showered and changed back into their suits, some met with friends on the Senators. Brandon Carlo and Senators goalie Linus Ullmark, once teammates on the Bruins, had a long conversation together. Ullmark heaped praise on Carlo, including for how loud the Leafs' new addition was all over the ice.
Carlo shrugged and nodded. He was simply doing what a veteran defenceman is expected to do — what he had done with multiple lengthy playoff runs with the Bruins in previous years.
They're playoff runs the Leafs haven't had yet. But if their win in the Battle of Ontario was any indication, they're getting closer.
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'(The Leafs) were businesslike today,' Berube said. 'After the Game 5 loss at home, it's a tough one. We came in here with a little bit of a different mindset. That was a big key and a big moment by the team: to come in here with a little bit of a different mindset. It wasn't do or die, but you want to finish it off here, for sure.'
This team's excitement after beating the Lightning in 2023 felt like them getting over a mountain. As the rain started coming down outside the Canadian Tire Centre late on Thursday night, you got the sense the Leafs understood they were only taking their first steps up the mountain, staring up at the summit far ahead of them.
'We are happy, obviously, we were cheering a little bit,' Ekman-Larsson said, shrugging, 'but we're getting ready for the next one.'
(Top photo of John Tavares and William Nylander: Chris Tanouye / Getty Images)