Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs dramatically broke their playoff bogey with a victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 6 of their series on Thursday, May 1. Despite a few hiccups, the Maple Leafs triumphed over their local rivals in a series dubbed the Battle of Ontario and will take on the current Stanley Cup holders, the Florida Panthers, in the second round of the playoffs.
Auston Matthews Consoles Senators Captain Brady Tkachuk
After the game, Matthews was seen consoling Tkachuk as the two captains shook hands on the ice, with media outlets reporting that the Maple Leafs captain shared some words of encouragement with his Senators counterpart.
Tkachuk and Matthews with big respect. #GoSensGo
Matthews said he told Brady that he's a wicked competitor and he knows the Sens will be back. pic.twitter.com/t5CxaWF3BM
— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) May 2, 2025
The Maple Leafs, which had won only one out of their previous 14 playoff elimination matches before this game, emerged as 4-2 winners on the night. Maple Leafs forward Max Pacioretty scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period to set up the Leafs’ triumph.
William Nylander scored two goals, and Matthews netted one as the Maple Leafs’ sealed victory. Toronto had won the first three games of the series before slumping to consecutive losses in Games 4 and 5. Matthews spoke to reporters after the win and said the team managed to block out all the noise and speculation surrounding their performance.
“I thought we had great energy this morning, just the confidence in ourselves,” Matthews said via NHL.com. “You know, like I kind of talked about, nothing else really matters; all the outside stuff doesn’t really matter. It’s about the 20, 25 guys that are in our room and the belief in one another, doing it for one another, and just going out there and competing. This one feels good.”
Ottawa was playing in its first playoff series since 2017. Tkachuk and David Perron scored for the Senators to tie the game after Toronto had taken a 2-0 lead. Pacioretty scored the go-ahead goal, and Nylander scored into an empty net with less than a minute left on the clock.
“It’s devastating,” Tkachuk told reporters after the game via NHL.com. “I really believed. It’s a tough pill to swallow right now. I’m really proud of this team. I’m really proud of every single guy in this room, everybody that wasn’t playing, our staff, trainers, everybody, everybody in this organization. I mean, I think it takes will, it takes guts to get the job done. I think we’ve got to take these lessons and be that much better because of it.”
Toronto is now 5-0 in playoff series against Ottawa and secured only its second series win in the postseason since defeating the Senators in 2004.