By Julian McKenzie and Joshua Kloke
Another day, another missed opportunity for the Maple Leafs to close out a series.
After a 4-0 Senators win in Game 5, the Leafs still hold a 3-2 series lead, but you might not know it by the way they played at home. They struggled to connect passes when it mattered, could not execute with the puck deep in the Senators’ zone and generally looked tense.
By this point, we know the story. Toronto’s talent level trumps that of the Senators, but the Leafs’ perennial problems closing out series have surfaced again.
The Leafs’ core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly are now 1-12 in games when they have a chance to win a series.
Full credit to the Senators for closing well defensively and getting elevated performances from the likes of defenceman Jake Sanderson and goaltender Linus Ullmark, who stopped 27 shots in an impressive shutout.
Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens scored huge goals in a tight game. Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk added empty-netters.
Chabot scored the game’s opener on a point shot in the second period, getting a bit of help from a slight pick as Marner tried to get to him defensively.
Cozens opened up a 2-0 lead in the third period with a short-handed goal.
The Leafs failed to generate much of anything, and the Senators’ stinginess sends the series back to Ottawa for Game 6 on Thursday.
They’ve planted seeds of doubt in the Maple Leafs after trailing 3-0 in the series. It’s springtime in Toronto.