How the Ottawa Senators completed a season sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 takeaways

TORONTO — Ridly Greig had three chances to ice the game in regulation. The Ottawa Senators were up 3-2 on their rival Toronto Maple Leafs and had an open net to shoot at. One chance went wide. Greig scored on the second, but it got called back for offside. The third was blocked. The Leafs pressed and had their chances. It could’ve made for sweet revenge over a year after the slap-shot debacle heard around the hockey world.

But the Senators held on thanks to their defence (at even strength and penalty kill) and goaltending. Eventually, Michael Amadio put the puck into the open net and sent tens of thousands of Maple Leafs fans home frustrated.

The Senators have had ups and downs all year long. But they’ve shown they can beat the Toronto Maple Leafs with their style of play. Their season sweep proves that. Ottawa has now beaten Toronto by a combined score of 9-3 in three meetings this season.

“We just get fired up for this game,” Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson said. “Fired up playing in front of these fans. Just the rivalry between us. It’s pretty cool to play here.”

For the second time this year, Ottawa has a six-game winning streak. Amadio, Claude Giroux, David Perron and Jake Sanderson were Ottawa’s goal scorers Saturday and each of them provided contributions throughout this stretch. Giroux extended his points streak to four games with his goal. Perron has four goals in his last eight games and so does Amadio. Sanderson has been excellent since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off with two goals and 11 points in 10 games.

As for their goalie Linus Ullmark, weird goalie gaffe aside, his 21 saves were sufficient for the Senators’ win.

“Everybody in that (dressing) room was on board to playing the right way,” Senators head coach Travis Green said. “Playing to win. Playing for the team.”

And even after a third-period penalty had Ottawa seemingly on the ropes, they didn’t break.

“It got a little hairy down the stretch,” Green said. “Obviously, it was a huge kill for our group against a power play that’s very potent. We had a few chances at the empty net as well we’d probably like to have back. But again, I think it goes back to just stay the course. We talk a lot about doing whatever it takes to get the job done. We had everyone in that room buying in tonight.”

The Senators ended the night with a lower Corsi rating than Toronto’s own (51.47 vs 48.78). But Ottawa spent most of the game as the better team at five-on-five. Ottawa even ended with a slightly better expected goals rate according to Natural Stat Trick. Overall, the Senators looked like the more threatening team for most of the contest — until the near end.

If fate allows us to have the Battle of Ontario in the opening round of the playoffs, the Senators needn’t be afraid of their provincial rival. But just as the Sens still have work to do to cement their place, so do the Leafs who are now third in the Atlantic Division after five losses in their last six games. Senators fans, meanwhile, get to continue their euphoric ride while being four points behind the Leafs.

And don’t think Ottawa hasn’t thought about the possibility of playing Toronto in the playoffs.

“It would be awesome,” Sanderson said. “We were talking about it before in the locker room, we’ve got to play a playoff game tonight. And I thought we did.”

Ullmark’s gaffe

The Swedish netminder was so close to a perfect week. A 48-save win over Detroit on Monday, and a highlight-reel save on Thursday. And then there’s whatever happened on Saturday when he misplayed the puck, eventually leading to a goal from Auston Matthews.

Ullmark is going to want this one back 😬 pic.twitter.com/Bg4a6yhrUQ

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 16, 2025

The highlight reel can be kind when you’re great. It can be unforgiving at your lowest.

Ullmark knew he “hesitated” when he tried to handle the puck, but once it bounced “straight up,” he was in trouble. You can sum up his feelings in one phrase that I think many of you know pretty well.

“If you’re a goalie, tend the goal,” Ullmark said.

The Senators laughed it off.

“He’s allowed to make mistakes,” Giroux said. “He’s been playing some good hockey for us. If he wants to make a mistake, that’s fine. It was kind of a weird play. I don’t even know if I’d call that a mistake.”

“Obviously, you want to score as soon as you can,” Green said. “But I think, even the emotions on our bench, (it) really didn’t affect anyone. That’s kind of been something we’ve talked about all year whether it’s after a game or during a game. Don’t change things just because they’re not going exactly how you want if you’re playing well.”

Almost four minutes later, Perron tied the game at two. It was the first of three unanswered goals by the Sens through to the end of the game.

So, how were Thomas Chabot and Travis Hamonic together? 

We’ve grown accustomed to Nick Jensen not participating in warmups these last few games. But we couldn’t help but wonder about his status on Saturday against Toronto when Thomas Chabot skated alongside Travis Hamonic who was injured Monday against the Red Wings and had yet to make his return. Sure enough, Green rolled with Chabot-Hamonic as his second pair while Jensen missed the game with an undisclosed injury.

How did they fare? Well, they weren’t the worst pairing in expected goals against according to MoneyPuck.

Chabot ended the night with an assist on Giroux’s goal but was also a minus-2. Hamonic was only a minus-1 and was physical against the Leafs, seemingly having a vendetta against Toronto’s Scott Laughton. But he had a paltry 38.89 CF percentage according to Natural Stat Trick. Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo both had Corsi ratings above 40 percent despite their expected goals-against rate together.

Travis Hamonic with a thunderous check ⛈️

📺: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/SGPiLPQWQ0

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 15, 2025

More importantly, the Senators’ defence held up fine against the Leafs. And the one goal Hamonic was on the ice for wasn’t his fault as established above.

Zetterlund remains on the fourth line

Fabian Zetterlund’s first period as a Senator showed a lot of promise when he lined up against the Red Wings on Monday. He was physical and he got himself to the front of the net for some key chances. It’s been quiet for him since. He had no shots on goal in his next two games against Philadelphia and Boston and played under 10 minutes both times.

On Saturday, Zetterlund played 8:24. It’s his lowest time on ice since joining the Senators. His lone shot of the game came on the power play, playing in the bumper spot alongside the Sens’ second unit. Zetterlund’s line with him, Adam Gaudette and Matthew Highmore finished with a 36.84 CF percentage rating at five-on-five according to Natural Stat Trick.

I share the thinking with some fans that Zetterlund should be in a top-six role and I think he’s still destined for that. I don’t think Zetterlund’s current line is the optimal fit for him. But lineup changes don’t often happen after wins and when your best lines are playing well. Zetterlund could still get a bump up, but he’d help his case by getting a shot on net or two. At this point, I’m not sure the Senators are in a hurry to change Zetterlund’s place in the lineup. We will see.

— Advanced statistics from Natural Stat Trick and MoneyPuck

(Photo of Ridly Greig watching the puck go into the net after a shot from Claude Giroux: Dan Hamilton / Imagn Images)