The Ottawa Senators are still alive in the Battle of Ontario.
Jake Sanderson scored at 17:32 of overtime Saturday night to lift Ottawa to a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, surviving a blown 2-0 lead and forcing a Game 5 back in Toronto. Sanderson fired a shot through traffic that beat Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz, giving Ottawa its first playoff victory since the 2017 Eastern Conference Final.
Despite the win, the Maple Leafs still lead the first-round playoff series 3-1. Game 5 will take place Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto, and David Perron also scored for Ottawa, while Linus Ullmark made 32 saves in net. Sanderson added an assist for a two-point night as the Senators, back in the playoffs for the first time in eight years, fought to extend their season.
Toronto’s John Tavares, Matthew Knies, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in response, with Stolarz stopping 18 shots. William Nylander collected two assists.
Historically, only four NHL teams have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series, a list that includes the 1942 Maple Leafs and the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers. Toronto had entered the game on an eight-game winning streak stretching back to the regular season and had dominated Ottawa in early-2000s playoff meetings, including a first-round sweep in 2001.
Saturday’s win didn’t come easily for the Senators. Ottawa killed off a critical four-minute Toronto power play in overtime after forward Drake Batherson was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking. Toronto captain Auston Matthews nearly ended the game during that stretch, but his shot hit the post.
Earlier, David Perron had broken a 2-2 tie in the third period, finishing off a feed from Artem Zub to send the towel-waving home crowd into a frenzy. Toronto, however, pushed back as the clock wound down, with Ekman-Larsson burying a Nylander setup with 5:29 left to tie the game once again.
The Senators had taken an early 2-0 lead. Stutzle scored on a power play just past the nine-minute mark after Max Domi took an undisciplined roughing penalty before a faceoff. Minutes later, Pinto scored a shorthanded goal after chipping the puck past Mitch Marner and squeaking it through Stolarz.
Toronto responded before the end of the first period, with Tavares tipping in a Nylander pass for his third goal of the series. In a quiet second period, Knies tied the game for the Leafs, outmuscling Zub to get a breakaway and beating Ullmark upstairs.
The game wasn’t without controversy. Ahead of Game 3, Senators forward Nick Cousins was fined over US$2,000 and the team $25,000 after Cousins fired pucks at Stolarz during warm-ups. Cousins was not made available to the media ahead of Game 4.
Despite the penalties and pressure, Ottawa kept its composure to earn a hard-fought win and extend the series. The Leafs now look to regroup on home ice to close it out, while the Senators aim to keep their comeback hopes alive.