5 takeaways from Leafs-Senators Game 5: Ullmark heats up, a critical error from Matthews

With a golden opportunity to advance to the second round, the Toronto Maple Leafs were beaten soundly in a 4-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies were on the ice for all four goals against, which included empty-netters from Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk. Thomas Chabot opened the scoring for the Senators in the second period, beating Anthony Stolarz through an inadvertent screen.

The game was up for grabs in the third period during a cagey affair overall. During a Leafs’ power play in the third period, Matthews committed a critical turnover, as his pass to Marner was picked off by Adam Gaudette, who then found a cutting Dylan Cozens for a short-handed marker, giving the Senators a 2-0 lead, and they didn’t look back.

“I just tried to find Mitchy up top. Thought we kinda drew them in. I didn’t see the guy there, obviously he picked it off. That’s on me, I have to make a better play,” Matthews said post-game.

Linus Ullmark was excellent when called upon for the Senators, making 29 saves in the winning effort. Stolarz made 15 saves for the Maple Leafs, and the series now heads back to Kanata for an all-important Game 6.

Here are five takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Senators

• Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies entered Tuesday’s game as the matchup’s premier line, with four goals for and zero against at 5-on-5. After a relatively strong first period, Matthews and Marner committed a series of blunders that actively led to the Senators’ victory. Matthews accidentally screened Anthony Stolarz on Thomas Chabot’s opening goal, then turned the puck over on a third-period power play to Adam Gaudette, who found Dylan Cozens for an insurance goal. We’re not counting the empty-net goals against them, but Matthews, Marner and Knies were on the ice for every goal allowed, and considering the quality of opponent, along with the chance to eliminate the Senators on home ice, it was a nightmare game for the Leafs’ star duo. None of this is meant to say that Matthews and Marner can’t turn it around in Game 6, but the negatives far outweighed the positives, and they’ll need to beat the Senators in Game 6, with all the pressure.
• Stolarz absolutely should start Game 6. Joseph Woll is an excellent option for the Maple Leafs, but Stolarz won 11 consecutive games, before losing in overtime in Game 4, and he wasn’t the reason why they dropped Game 5, either. There were times where Stolarz appeared to be fighting the puck, but he was largely composed, and neither goal he allowed was his fault. At this point, Stolarz has to be the starting goaltender, unless his form drops off dramatically, but he’s locked into this series entirely.
• Linus Ullmark was terrific for the Senators and outplayed Stolarz for the second consecutive game. Ullmark kept the Maple Leafs’ power play at bay, he was cool and composed, and he earned the first playoff shutout of his career. Ottawa’s goaltender was bound to steal a game and he saved 2.38 goals above expected in all situations via Natural Stat Trick. Ullmark is heating up for the Senators, an uneasy proposition for the Leafs.
• It may be forgotten in the long run, but Toronto’s fourth line of Steven Lorentz, Scott Laughton and Calle Jarnkrok brought the energy and chance creation needed, outshooting Ottawa 6-0 at 5-on-5. Lorentz-Laughton-Jarnkrok started the game and threw their weight around, leading to a opening shift shot on goal from Brandon Carlo. Jarnkrok was active and engaged as he’s been since returning from injury in March, while Lorentz and Laughton were excellent on the penalty kill. Through five games in the series, you could argue that Lorentz-Laughton-Jarnkrok have outplayed the Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Max Pacioretty unit, creating two third lines of sorts. Depth scoring is still an area of concern though and Domi’s overtime winner in Game 2 is in the rearview.
• Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube made a few line changes, but ultimately, they didn’t make much of a difference. Max Domi was moved to the second line alongside John Tavares and William Nylander, while Bobby McMann, Pontus Holmberg and Max Pacioretty formed a mismatched third line. Domi is better suited to the wing in an ideal world, while McMann is looking to find his game during the series, and it’ll be curious to see if Pacioretty draws in for a fourth consecutive game over Nick Robertson. We’ll have to see whether Berube moves McMann up to the second line to utilize his world-class speed, while working off Tavares and Nylander.