Maple Leafs not looking ahead, only wish to complete sweep of Senators
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Just win one game.
If the Ottawa Senators are telling themselves as much heading into Saturday night, you can bet the Maple Leafs are doing the same.
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What’s on the line in the Battle of Ontario, of course, is vastly different.
A Maple Leafs win at the Canadian Tire Centre and it’s their first sweep in the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2001, when they beat the Senators in four games in the opening round. The Leafs could then sit back, get some rest and hope that the series between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning goes as long as possible.
The Senators have to win. They’ll be hitting the golf courses sometime this week if they lose. An Ottawa victory and it’s back to Toronto for Game 5 on Tuesday.
“I don’t think there’s a different approach (in an elimination game),” Leafs coach Craig Berube told the media in Ottawa on Saturday. “Each individual and the team needs to focus on their shift, the process of it all.
“(The Sens are) going to push hard like they have every game. We just have to focus on what we need to do. Each individual, your battle, your compete, your puck management, just keep playing how we have been playing.”
If the Leafs emerge victorious, it would mark the fifth time in five post-season meetings between the clubs that Toronto has won.
And it’s just the second time since 1967, the year of the Leafs’ most recent Cup win, that Toronto has had a 3-0 series lead. As noted, they swept Ottawa 24 years ago.
The Leafs in their history are 3-3 in Game 4 when holding a 3-0 series lead.
The Senators are 2-3 in Game 4 when they have been in a 3-0 series deficit and will try to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after losing the first three games.
The Leafs weren’t looking beyond Saturday night. No lineup changes are expected, so Max Pacioretty will stay in the lineup after he threw seven hits in his series debut in Game 3. Nick Robertson will sit again.
“You play every game to win,” John Tavares told the media. “So whatever comes after that (the potential for rest), you deal with it then.
“We know the circumstances around the game. Go out there and execute and we want to get the result. To be able to finish the series off today would be great, so that’s where the focus is.”
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