With Thursday night's series win, the Toronto Maple Leafs remain undefeated against the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs. After a hard-fought series against the pesky Senators, the Leafs will advance to Round 2, where they will play the even peskier Florida Panthers, a rematch from the 2023 playoffs.
This year's edition of the Leafs playoffs saw many new faces who played key roles in the Leafs' success, which affected the series in various ways. We are here to outline some of the Leafs' positive aspects and some of their shortcomings in round one against the Senators.
Before getting into some of the key points, let's show appreciation for a couple of things first.
For a change, the Leafs finally have a leader behind the bench in head coach Craig Berube, whose calm demeanor has been felt all series long. In years past, we have seen Leaf coaches such as Sheldon Keefe allow the moment of the tense playoff atmosphere to get the better of them.
The same cannot be said for Berube. Through the first-round's ups and downs, we have seen the Leafs bench boss never let the moment get the better of him, and you have to wonder how much that impacted his players, especially the ones who have always seemed to drown in atmospheres like the haunted Game 7's in TD Garden.
Another quick note that deserves some attention is the play of Simon Benoit. For Toronto's sixth defenceman, Benoit left an imprint on this first-round series against Ottawa. Even after assisting on Max Domi's overtime winner to make it 2-0 in the series, Benoit followed that up with an overtime winner of his own in Game 3, which gave the Leafs a 3-0 lead in the series and a crucial road win.
Now, obviously, Benoit isn't in this lineup to put up points, though the Leafs will take his production, especially as a defenceman. It's his low-risk playstyle that the Leafs covet as he finishes this series with an even plus-minus and the same expected goals-against percentage as Morgan Reilly, per Natural Stat Trick.
Benoit's physicality was on full display all series long as well; his 19 hits rank first among Leaf d-man and third among the Leaf team, according to MoneyPuck.com.
The only glaring flaw in Benoit's series was his inability to stay out of the box; his eight penalty minutes ranked the most among all Leafs this series, and for a team that has had a mediocre penalty kill all season long, it's something you can't afford in such a tight series.
Now, let's look back on the best and worst aspects from this series win over the Senators, for the Leafs.
The Good
Chris Tanev
For years, this Leaf team had been missing that shutdown blueliner the playoffs, someone who could shut down the opposing team's best players. This past summer, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving was able to ink one of the league's best shutdown defensemen in Tanev to a six-year deal with an AAV of $4.5 million, and so far, it's paid off.
After round one, Tanev was on the ice for the second fewest expected goals among all Leafs defensemen, only behind Brandon Carlo, while also blocking the third-most shots on the team. Behind Tanev's hidden metrics, you will see his ever-active stick that broke up multiple plays all series long.
Along with his active stick, Tanev's poise in his own team's zone throughout the first round allowed his team to generate effective breakouts. This aspect of Tanev's game will only prove more vital when the Leafs face Florida's relentless forecheck.
Matthew Knies
From losing to Quinnipiac in the NCCA's frozen four with the Univeristy of Minnesota in 2023 to becoming one of the NHL's premiere power forwards at just 22 years old, Knies's impact on this Leaf team during this playoff run should not be overshadowed.
Knies finishes the first round of this year's playoffs with three goals, which is tied for the team lead with John Tavares and William Nylander. Knies was also on the ice for 4.25 expected goals at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, which is the second highest among all Toronto skaters.
Along with his production, Knies brought a fiery edge to his game throughout the whole series, whether it be laying glass wobbling hits on Ottawa blueliners on the forecheck or challenging Ottawa's pest in Ridly Greig to sitting down Shane Pinto in Game 5.
This fierce attitude from Knies was vital to this Leaf team all series, and it's something he will be challenged with even more in round two against the Panthers because we all know the amount of rats they have over there, and it's not the ones fans throw on the ice.
The Fourth Line
After spending the last 11 and half seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Scott Laughton was dealt to the Leafs at this year's trade deadline.
For the first 15 games or so, things didn't look too good for a player who was acquired for a first-round pick along with a fan favorite in Nikita Grebenkin, that is, until Berube matched Laughton up with Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok on Laughton's wings in the final five games of the regular season.
Other than the first line, the fourth line was the only line that Berube didn't touch in the first round, and rightfully so. They owned the team's best shot attempt share of 53.85 percent, which is all you can ask for from your fourth line. Plus, the line drew the most penalty minutes (10) out of all Leaf forward lines.
It didn't matter who this fourth line was out against. More often than not, they won their minutes, and Berube should look to continue rolling with them against the Panthers.
Brandon Carlo
This might be nitpicky, but it's worth noting. In addition to searching for a shutdown defenceman like Tanev, the Leafs have long been searching for the perfect defenceman to pair with Reilly, and they might have just found one in Carlo.
Since being acquired at the deadline, Carlo has impacted Reilly's game tremendously, allowing the free-skating Reilly to tap into his offensive game more than he's been able to due to mediocre partners such as the Ilya Lybushkin's of the past.
At the end of the first round, Carlo was on the ice for the fewest amount of expected goals against among all Leafs defencemen (3.43). What's even more impressive is how Carlo's defensive play has impacted Reilly's playoffs.
Reilly's on-ice expected goals against at 5-on-5 this playoffs (3.8) is the best it's been since the 2021 post-season. Carlo's defensive play has given Reilly more confidence in his offensive game, and the production has followed.
The Bad
Third Line Woes
Throughout all six games of the first round, the third line was consistently Toronto's most ineffective line. Outside of the core four, Domi is the highest-paid forward on this Leaf team, and you wouldn't believe it if you had watched any part of this series except for his overtime winner in Game 2.
Yes, Domi assisted on Max Pacioretty's series-winning goal in Game 6, but other than that, the line generated the team's worst shot attempt share of any line (34.48 percent), and it showed they consistently got hemmed in their own zone. Domi wasn't the only underwhelming player on the third line for the Leafs.
Bobby McMann deserves some criticism as well. Heading into the playoffs, the Leafs were looking forward to getting some production outside of their core four, and it probably started with McMann, who finished the regular season with 20 goals and 34 points. McMann finished the Battle of Ontario with a lonely assist, which is something Berube will definitely have to think about for round two.
We have seen Berube elevate McMann to the second line with Tavares and Nylander, a line McMann produced well with during the regular season. The question then becomes, who's able to drop to the third line and provide a respectable level of production?
Inconsistency
Toronto started the first three games of the Battle of Ontario with a red-hot power play, going 4-for-6 on the man advantage. That quickly changed in Game 4 and Game 5, when the power play was an abysmal 0/7; if Ottawa had managed to win this series, Toronto's power play in Game 5 would definitely have been pointed out as missed opportunities; it was hard to watch.
The team's power play woes date back to the first half of this year's regular season and last year's playoffs against the Boston Bruins. If they want any chance of beating the Panthers, they will want to convert on the powerplay more consistently.
Another area of consistency that could be patched up for round two is the play of Anthony Stolarz. Stolarz is a big reason why the Leafs are advancing to the second round, and he deserves his flowers for that, but his lack of playoff experience showed at times.
Stolarz could've been less diligent with Dylan Cozens' rebound and covered the puck faster instead of letting Drake Batherson pounce on the loose puck in Game 1. Stolarz also could've played tighter to his post in Game 6 on David Perron's goal; it's a goal from a veteran player who's probably tried to score like that multiple times before, and Stolarz should be aware that shots like that are attempted a lot in today's game.
Playoff goals and regular season goals are not the same. Opposing teams emphasize a net-front presence more in the playoffs, while they also crash the net for greasy rebounds, much like Batherson's. Stolarz will want to clean those rebounds up for the Panthers.