KANATA, Ont. — Finish him!
Say it like Mortal Kombat.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have their opponent on the mat. They are staring down at a wounded animal. Time to sweep the leg or deliver some other violent final blow, lest they give the Ottawa Senators a hint of life.
Riding an eight-game win streak, they’ve already looked different. More controlled and composed. The transition from stretch run to divisional title to 3-0 Round 1 lead has been uncharacteristically smooth.
Now, it’s time to summon killer instinct. Do they have that finish him in them?
“Most veteran athletes have it, you know. They understand,” says head coach Craig Berube, focused on Game 4 Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
“The killer instinct will take care of itself if you do things right. But it’s going to boil down to competitiveness and battles.”
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Battle of Ontario, we hyped this.
Well, we got the Ontario part right.
But it takes two to battle.
Sure, Games 2 and 3 went to overtime, and the Senators have been quick to talk about bad bounces and games of inches and a goalie who’s performing much better than his ugly .815 save percentage might have you believe.
But an Ottawa side thin on experience and thinning on hope has led game play for just 6:53 of the 184:28 waged so far.
The Leafs have the better power play and penalty kill. They’ve dressed the better goaltender each night. They have the higher-end skill and deeper blue-line and more accomplished coach, and are owning the faceoff dot, and… well, what a gift it would be to take care of business swiftly here and move on.
“In a perfect world, yeah,” says Cup-winning defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “But we also know that this is probably the hardest one coming up, too. We’re going to prepare for the next one, put everything on the line, and that’s all we can do.”
Berube describes his bunch as “business-like” and “more eager” in the hours before tonight’s potential clincher.
He is a man at ease, laughing and regaling the gathered media Friday afternoon after walking off the podium with one of his many stories from his enforcing days.
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Travis Green, on the other hand, spoke in quiet tones and wore glassy eyes Thursday night, wearing every ounce of what he called a “disheartening” overtime loss.
Taking advantage of a reeling Sens squad would give the hard-checking, shot-blocking Leafs extra time to heal bruises and game plan for Round 2.
“Overall, I think rest as a weapon,” says Brandon Carlo, no stranger to shooting-lane sacrifices.
A 4-0 victory would mean something. It would be a statement and a well-deserved break.
But a 3-0 lead? What does that mean?
“To be honest, it doesn’t really mean anything,” says captain Auston Matthews. “We can’t take our foot off the gas.”
Senators draw inspiration from past miracles
To pull off the unbelievable, you have to believe.
“We’re right there,” says Senators Jake Sanderson. “I think the series could easily be 2-1 us, obviously going into overtime twice.”
Captain Brady Tkachuk was quick to bring up the documentary he’d recently watched on the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who rallied from an 0-3 deficit to upset the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
And wily veteran Claude Giroux has reminded teammates that his 2010 Philadelphia Flyers clawed out of a three-loss hole to reverse sweep the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The odds are long, but anything is possible. Only four NHL playoffs teams have pulled off a reverse sweep, the 2014 Cup-winning L.A. Kings being the most recent.
“What’s the history saying so far?” says David Perron, a realist. “Not great. But we’re gonna try and turn that one day at a time, and that’s the only way we can focus.”
Cousins, Panthers fined for warmup antics
The league fined Nick Cousins $2,083.33, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for unsportsmanlike conduct Friday. The Senators forward shot multiple pucks toward Anthony Stolarz during Game 3 warmups as the Toronto goaltender stretched near the red line.
The Senators also got dinged $25,000.
Green said the incident wasn’t even brought up amongst the team. The Sens have grander concerns.
But the financial punishment is a reminder that the NHL has zero tolerance for tomfoolery between teams during warmups with no officials on the ice, no matter how benign.
The Cousins-Stolarz interaction has nothing on the Flyers-Rangers warmup of Feb. 21, 1991, which starred the current Leafs coach.
Berube’s teammate, Keith Acton, had a penchant for stirring the pot in warmup, and goalie Ron Hextall wasn’t afraid to launch the odd puck at the opposition.
New York’s Tie Domi had enough of Hextall’s prodding and whipped a puck at the back of Hextall’s legs from close range.
Berube, of course, went after Max’s dad and a melee broke out.
Imagine if this happened in today’s age:
One-Timers: Anthony Stolarz had a chat with the officials early in Game 3. “Watch my back, and I’ll behave,” he said…. Berube’s assessment of Max Pacioretty’s first game in 75 days: “I thought he was excellent. I loved his physicality. Skated well. Made some nice plays. That line, they had a couple opportunities. I thought he was really good for us.”… The Senators, who didn’t practice Friday, downgraded Saturday’s morning skate to an optional, prioritizing rest. The Maple Leafs, conversely, had a full morning skate and have hit the ice more often between games this series. “Get some anxiety out,” Berube says.
Maple Leafs projected Game 3 lineup vs. Ottawa Senators:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares – Nylander
Pacioretty – Domi – McMann
Lorentz – Laughton – Järnkrok
Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Tanev
Ekman-Larsson – Benoit
Stolarz starts
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