SIMMONS: Leafs beat Senators, Sens defeat themselves, in Game 1 of Battle of Ontario

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Chris Tanev did not score a goal, did not set up a goal, did not have a shot on goal: All he did was his job on defence, calmly effectively and efficiently for the Maple Leafs.

Brady Tkachuk did not score a goal Sunday night, did not set up a goal, got beaten on a breakaway by Anthony Stolarz, had five shots on net, seven hits in total: His game is all about noise, creating havoc, disrupting.

It’s the family business.

But business was rather quiet for Tkachuk and friends at Scotiabank Arena, so often with Captain Brady playing left wing to Tanev’s right defence. And as a subplot to all the usual playoff noise, some of it late game nonsense, the inexperienced Ottawa Senators played up to their own inexperience, losing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs to themselves and the Maple Leafs.

In the end, it was a one-sided 6-2 score that didn’t always appear that one-sided. With the Sens beaten by their own lack of discipline, a lack of quality goaltending and a lack of composure.

They were a first-time playoff team looking like a first-time playoff team.

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This was a kind of large win for this historically rickety Maple Leafs team, a team that seems more ready to compete for the Stanley Cup than ever before. Sunday night was the 59th Toronto playoff game of the Brendan Shanahan era as president of the Leafs. It felt different than any of the others. It felt more natural, more certain.

The Leafs scored six times. Once, against Tampa Bay, the Leafs scored as many as seven goals in a playoff game. That happened once in 59 games. This was second most.

Last year, against the Boston Bruins, the Leafs scored six goals. In the final four games of the seven-game series. The six-goal total also equals what the Leafs managed in Games 5, 6 and 7 against Montreal in 2021. Six goals in three games. This was six goals in three periods.

Six goals in one night came from six different scorers. Assists came from nine different players. That’s the kind of across the board success the best of playoff teams need.

The historically frustrating Core Four scored three goals and set up six others in the 6-2 win. Mitch Marner had three points. Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares combined for six points.

This is new and if wasn’t, it sure felt new.

Consider all that went right in Game 1 to be a combination of the new Maple Leafs, the coach Craig Berube Leafs, with sensible shoes like Tanev and Brandon Carlo and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on defence, with the historically quiet Core Four busting out.

And quietly, so much of this happens because of the understated simplicity Tanev brings to the Leafs defence. You have to watch him closely to see all he does and doesn’t do. You have to watch to see how quickly the puck goes from his stick to that of a teammate. You have to watch him to see that turnovers are just frozen foods to him, not something you see on the ice.

And as he plays his game, you see a Leaf team responding to his leadership: He’s the leader without a C on his jersey, a team MVP without any letters or votes to show for it.

When at their best, the most efficient stay at homes understand their games, how much time they have, how quickly they need to move the puck, how they never seemed rushed: And they turn their 45 seconds into another safe shift for the coaching staff.

Tkachuk wasn’t completely invisible in Game 1 against the Leafs because it’s virtually impossible for Tkachuk to be invisible. He has too much talent and moxy and plays with too much of an edge to go unnoticed. He’s still apparent around he net and in front of the net, and behind the net, and sometimes in the net.

Tkachuk had an opportunity to change the game when he found himself in alone on a breakaway early in the second period of Game 1. He didn’t score. The goalie, Stolarz, won that battle. Instead of the score being 2-2, had Tkachuk scored, Tavares scored on the power play to make it 3-1.

Three-one became 4-1 became 5-2 and ended up as with the tennis final of 6-2 and a whole lot of meaningless punches and penalties coming at the end.

“Listen,” said coach Berube, and Sunday night you wanted to listen. “It’s one game. It’s going to get harder. We have to focus now on what we need to do in the next game.”

They need to be what Ottawa wasn’t in Game 1. They need to remain disciplined, smart, controlled, hard-hitting, four-lines deep, and on top of the Senators who weren’t quite sure what to do all night long.

The Leafs got a lot from just about everybody, starting with their fourth line Sunday night. They won the opener. They won it big. They can play with that lead for the first time in forever. They won with tangibles and won with quiet intangibles, the kind you can’t find on a gamesheet. The kind Chris Tanev brings almost every night.

ssimmons@postmedia.com
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