The first three games of the series were all about the Leafs’ dominance on special teams, particularly with a menacing five-forward power play. But things leveled off in Game 4. The Senators’ killing of the Leafs’ four-minute power play in overtime was massive.
The Senators got short-handed (Pinto) and power-play (Stützle) goals past Stolarz midway through the first period. The Leafs went 0-4 on the power play.
“Our special teams could have been better,” Knies admitted after the game.
Max Domi’s completely unnecessary roughing penalty during a faceoff in the first period ended up costing the Leafs early. The Leafs needed to be more disciplined in Game 4. They weren’t. Moving forward, avoiding these kinds of penalties will be high on coach Craig Berube’s priority list.
The Leafs were gifted a four-minute advantage in overtime when a Drake Batherson high-stick on Chris Tanev drew blood. Toronto had a few good looks with a chance to end the series, including an Auston Matthews shot off the post and a Knies one-timer that Ullmark kicked aside, but ultimately failed to get the job done at a critical moment.
Notably, the Leafs were without John Tavares for the full OT power play as he had gone to the dressing room after a hit by Zub.
If this series is any indication, the Leafs are going to rely heavily on their power play for any kind of deep playoff run. It’s worth wondering if this was an off night or the team’s power play coming back down to Earth.