Senators Brady Tkachuk Believes a Comeback is Possible

Simon Benoit‘s point shot through a screen off a draw won by Auston Matthews lifted the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators now face an uphill battle, trailing three games to none in their first postseason appearance in eight years.

Claude Giroux opened the scoring 1:38 into the second period, sending a wrist shot past Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz while the Senators were on a two-man advantage.

Leafs Matthew Knies tied it at the 8:31 mark after an attempted pass towards Matthews glanced off Senators’ Shane Pinto‘s skate. Knies goal was the Leafs fifth power play marker in three games.

With the Senators needing a big start to the third period, it was the Leafs who did the early damage. Mitch Marner fed Matthews in front for a quick one-timer only 32 seconds in.

Trailing 2-1 and not recording a shot on goal in the frame, Brady Tkachuk wired a shot blocker-side on the Senators first attempt with 8:38 remaining in regulation.

Tkachuk’s tally held up until Benoit ended it 1:19 into the extra period.

When asked if he saw Benoit’s shot, Senators netminder Linus Ullmark responded, “I didn’t see anything.”

The loss before a boisterous crowd of 19,073 was the team’s first home playoff game since May 23, 2017, a 2-1 Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Former Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, who was in goal on that night, led pregame chants of “Pageau, Pageau.”

Former Senators Radek Bonk, Zenon Konopka, Todd White, Jason York were also in attendance.

Senators captain, Brady Tkachuk acknowledged the fans, “Honestly, I can’t really describe it, because when I came out there, I had immediate goosebumps. And it was special. That’s what makes this city so special.”

Senators head coach Travis Green‘s voice was hoarse from calling out lines over the crowd noise.

Green and his players thought they competed well, but there’s a fine line between winning and losing.

Ullmark noted, “I like we’re battling back. We’re doing a lot of good things, but sometimes it comes down to Lady Luck. And you know what? You have to earn it. It’s not going to come for free, that’s for sure.”

“It’s disheartening. We played a helluva game. Hockey comes down to little inches, bounces,” Green commented.

As for Brady Tkachuk, he believes his club can still pull off a comeback.

“So, I’ve been saying this a lot. Not too long ago, I watched the Red Sox-Yankees documentary when they came back from down three. So, it’s been done before and the belief that it can happen again.”

Adding, “There’s always adversity, always challenges in life. And that’s all about finding a way. You’re never out of it.”

Only four times in NHL history has a team won a series after trailing 3-0 – the Los Angeles Kings being the last in 2014 when they defeated the San Jose Sharks in the opening round.

The Senators are now forced to take it one game at a time, with no room for error.

And that starts in Game 4, which is Saturday evening at the Canadian Tire Centre.