The Battle of Ontario has been revived once again after more than two decades as the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to face the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Previously in their history facing each other during the postseason, the Maple Leafs have had great success against their provincial rivals. In fact, they have won in each of the four times that had faced Ottawa since the Senators came into existence in the NHL in 1992.
But that was then and this is now. So how does the Maple Leafs lineup stack up against the Senators this time around? Let’s take a closer look on how they compare with each other by looking at the numbers.
Toronto Maple Leafs | Ottawa Senators | |
|---|---|---|
Overall Record | 52-26-4 (1st in Atlantic) | 45-30-7 (4th in Atlantic) |
Home Record | 27-13-1 | 27-11-3 |
Road Record | 25-13-3 | 18-19-4 |
Goals For | 268 | 243 |
Goals Against | 231 | 234 |
Power Play | 24.8% (9th in league) | 23.8% (11th in league) |
Penalty Kill | 77.9% (17th in league) | 77.7% (19th in league) |
Head-to-Head | 0-3-0, 3 goals for, 9 goals against | 3-0-0, 9 goals for, 3 goals against |
The Leafs finished the season atop of the Atlantic Division, guaranteeing them home-ice advantage throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs, while the Senators finished in the first wild-card position.
Toronto actually had a similar solid winning record both at home and on the road, but Ottawa was considerably a better team at home than on the road, where they sported a losing record. As a result, the Maple Leafs must take full advantage of home ice to gain the obvious edge over the Senators.
During the regular season, Toronto was the more prolific, higher scoring team compared to Ottawa, but Ottawa was stronger defensively, giving up fewer goals than Toronto. When it came to special teams, both teams actually were close to being on par with each other, with the Leafs having just the slight edge on the power play and penalty kill by a few tenths of a percentage point.
However, the most worrisome statistic was when we take a look at the numbers when both teams faced each other during the 2024-25 NHL regular season. The Senators managed to take all three games against the Leafs and outscored them by a combined score of 9-3. In fact, Ottawa shut out Toronto in one of the matches while holding them to two goals or less in the other two.
With the Maple Leafs often suffering an offensive power outage during the playoffs, the fact that the Senators actually held them in check throughout the regular season doesn’t bode well for the Buds. Then again, if they are looking for some inspiration, look no further than back to 2001.
That year, the Leafs had lost all five games to the Senators handily during the regular season. So how did they do during their first round matchup during the playoffs that very same year? Toronto would go on to sweep Ottawa while holding them to three goals in the four games.
As a result, as far as the numbers go, once the playoffs officially start, anything can happen. But if history holds true for the Leafs, the motivation to play against the Senators once again should be enough to get them amped up and take their game to the next level. Go Leafs Go!