Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk made franchise history during Game 5 of the first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Senators blanked the Maple Leafs 4-0 to win their second consecutive game and keep their hopes alive in the best-of-seven series.
Brady Tkachuk and Ottawa Senators Force a Game 6
The Senators have shown remarkable resilience to rally from 3-0 down in the series. Game 6 is scheduled to be played on Thursday, May 1, at Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa’s home arena.
Ahead of that showdown, Tkachuk said he’s expecting a wild response from the crowd.
“I expect pure insanity,” TSN reporter Claire Hanna quoted Tkachuk as saying.
Tkachuk had a goal and two assists during the Senators’ win on Tuesday, becoming the franchise’s first player to score three points in a game with the team in danger of elimination.
His teammate Tim Stutzle shared the record with him, having also scored a goal and provided two assists on the night. The two players combined for Ottawa’s fourth goal on the night, with Stutzle passing the puck to Tkachuk, who scored an empty-netter.
Brady Tkachuk (1-2—3) became the first player in @Senators history with three points in game when the team faced elimination.#NHLStats: https://t.co/w8nbCDlPru https://t.co/XG1NJshbwW
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) April 30, 2025
After the game, Tkachuk lauded the team’s collective performance.
“It took everybody,” Tkachuk told reporters. “Our best player tonight was Linus, who made some huge saves for us, but it took everybody on the bench, everybody in our room. Everybody wanted to win. Our will to win was high, and I think it paid off.”
Senators goalie Linus Ullmark made 29 saves during the game, including denying Maple Leafs’ forwards John Tavares and Mitch Marner, to seal the win for Ottawa.
“It doesn’t really matter in a playoff series how you’re doing, you can lose 1-0, you can lose 6-2, it’s still a loss,” Ullmark said via NHL.com.
“My job is to stop pucks, and every night it’s all about battling it out with the other goalie on the other team, try to make more saves than the other guy, and come out victorious. Sometimes I’d say it comes down to Lady Luck when it comes down to certain different areas of the game, but you have to earn it.”
Senators coach Travis Green praised his team’s efforts, especially Ullmark’s performance on the night.
“Not surprising,” Green said. “I feel like I’ve been talking about Linus a lot this series and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him and rightfully so. He was sharp again tonight.”
This was Ullmark’s first playoff shutout in 15 postseason starts. He became only the second netminder to blank an opposing team in an elimination game.