Maple Leafs advance to the 2nd round of NHL playoffs by eliminating Senators 4-2 in Game 6

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Battle of Ontario and moved on to the second round of the NHL playoffs.

Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of their first-round matchup.

William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-netter in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves.

''We came in here with a little bit different mindset,'' Toronto coach Craig Berube said. ''It wasn't do-or-die, but we wanted to finish it off here.

''A little bit more aggressive and on our toes.''

The Maple Leafs advanced to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their first-round series.

Toronto grabbed a 3-0 series lead, but Ottawa stayed alive with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 and a 4-0 shutout in Game 5.

The Maple Leafs finally put away the Senators in Game 6.

''Nothing else really matters,'' Matthews said. ''The outside stuff doesn't really matter. It's about the guys that are in our room, and the belief in one another, doing it for one another.

''This one feels good.''

Toronto improved to 2-13 in potential series-clinching games since 2018 and advanced in the postseason for just the second time in more than two decades.

''We're playing for each other,'' Stolarz said. ''Everyone knows their role, everyone knows their job. We have the confidence.''

Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.

''I really believed that we were going to come back and win the game,'' Tkachuk said. ''Just tough, just tough.''

With the game tied at 2, Pacioretty — a heathy scratch to start the series — scored the winner with 5:39 remaining off a pass from Max Domi that beat Ullmark to the glove side. It was Pacioretty's first goal of the playoffs.

Pacioretty, who blew his right Achilles tendon twice in less than 12 months before dealing with a couple injuries this season, contemplated retirement more than a few times, but chose to push on.

It paid off Thursday.

''I thought that I was done playing a number of times,'' the 36-year-old forward said. ''My story is just one of many. But there's a lot of resilient guys in this organization, been through a lot as well.

''Guys like that motivate me to keep going.''

Scott Laughton hit the post before Nylander iced it into the empty net with 18.3 seconds left.

Matthews put Toronto up 1-0 on a power play with 70 seconds left in the first period when he fired a low shot through traffic.

Nylander, on his 29th birthday, made it 2-0 just 43 seconds into the second when he ripped a shot past Ullmark after Pacioretty forced a turnover from Senators defenseman Nick Jensen.

Ottawa got on the board at 7:28 when Tkachuk tipped a shot past Stolarz.

Toronto, which beat Ottawa four times in five playoffs series in the early 2000s, came close to restoring its two-goal lead when John Tavares poked a loose puck off the post before Ullmark denied Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo off the rush.

Perron scored with 7:20 left in regulation to tie it on a shot from below the goal line that went in off Stolarz's back to make it 2-2.

''That's a hard-earned series,'' Matthews said. ''Move on to the next one.''

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