Maple Leafs vs. Senators Game 6 live blog: Toronto looks to reach second round with win in Ottawa
The
Maple Leafs
have a chance to put the
Ottawa Senators
away (again) tonight.
After taking a 3-0 series lead in the
Battle of Ontario
, they now find themselves up 3-2. Toronto will advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a road win tonight. Can they pull it off?
Follow the Star's Game 6 live blog for updates and commentary from columnist
Bruce Arthur
.
Might as well get the money quote out of the way toot sweetie.
'All I hear around here is core, core, core. The Core 4.''
And Craig Berube has only been 'around here'' for one season. These are the veteran coach's first playoffs behind the Maple Leafs bench.
Berube is a lunch-bucket, no-nonsense guy with a throwback sensibility. But he can't possibly truly grasp how sags the spirit in Toronto or the twitchy dread of his longest-tenured players on a team that has watched a 3-0 lead in the opening round of the Atlantic Division series lurch into a 3-2 sinkhole of anxiety.
Read the full column from Rosie DiManno
The Leafs are 1-13 in series-clinching games since 2018. Auston Matthews, right, and Mitch Marner, left, have combined for just four goals and 10 assists in those 14 games.
OTTAWA—Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube put his team's mindset in the simplest terms as it prepares for Game 6 against the not-dead-yet Ottawa Senators.
'Let's go. Ready to go. Business. Let's go,' said Berube.
The Leafs find themselves in the driver's seat, up three games to two, while also battling the demons of the past, a record of 1-13 in games in which they could put away an opponent since 2018. They say they're not letting that get to them.
You just try to block all that stuff out,' captain Auston Matthews said. 'The main focus is on the guys in the room, on the team and playing for one another. That's really all there is to it. All the outside noise, all that stuff, it is what it is. It's not something that you focus on at all.'
Get the latest from Leafs reporter Kevin McGran
Are the Toronto Maple Leafs really doing this again?
It was 2021 when former Leafs assistant coach Paul MacLean's haunting words were uttered between Games 6 and 7 against the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs, heavy favourites in that first-round playoff series, were comfortably up three games to one before losing the next two in overtime.
Amazon's 'All of Nothing' documentary captured a coaches meeting where MacLean spoke about what was at stake for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
'You can exorcise so many f—-ing demons. And they've got demons in their heads, they've got 'em in their car, they've got 'em under their f—-ing beds,' MacLean said to former head coach Sheldon Keefe. 'Everywhere they turn there's a f—-ing demon with a loss on it. The biggest obstacle this team has right now is themselves.'
Four years have passed, but the demons haven't left.
Read the full column from Nick Kypreos
Sens captain Brady Tkachuk celebrates his goal against the Maple Leafs in Game 3.
Captain Brady Tkachuk promised Senators fans after Game 4 that his team would be back at the Canadian Tire Centre for Game 6. He followed through on that, and now he's asking those attending Thursday night's game to make a difference.
'This is not just about our team, it's about our city,' Tkachuk told reporters after Ottawa's morning skate. 'You can feel the excitement and we're going to need it tonight.'
Tkachuk, who has three goals and three assists through the series' five games, was also asked if the Senators had played their best playoff hockey yet.
'There's no chance we're ever going to be complacent with where we're at. We always want more,' he said.
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