Game 1 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators is officially in the books, with Toronto taking the first contest 6-2, where 52 penalty minutes were handed out between the two teams in what was undeniably a spirited and physical affair. Toronto took advantage of it, with three power play markers.
“It was intense,” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said after the game. “They call it the Battle of Ontario for a reason.”
In the wake of Toronto’s dominant win, there are already questions being asked of the officiating from both sides, with accusations coming from Senators head coach Travis Green that the Leafs ‘did a good job selling’ calls in order to earn so many power plays. Speaking after practice Monday, Auston Matthews was steadfast in denying the claim.
“We were hanging onto pucks, they’re making calls based on what they feel are penalties,” said Toronto’s captain. “We’re playing hockey … to answer your question, I guess, no, I don’t think we were doing anything special to draw penalties.”
Matthews finished the night with two primary assists and a team-leading four hits, a major contributor to Toronto’s tone setting performance in response to Ottawa’s physical style of play.
Looking at the intensity of the game, one key moment came in the second period, when Ridly Greig cross-checked John Tavares and received a five-minute major, which was then reviewed and reduced to a two-minute minor.
The play generated a lot of discussion in Toronto, due to its similarity to Morgan Rielly’s infamous cross-check on Greig in February last year that earned him a five-game suspension. Comparatively, it appears Greig will not face any supplemental discipline.
Matthew Knies addressed Greig’s cross-check, which came amidst a flurry of dirty plays from the Senators as they began to fall behind in the game. Knies now says it’s all about taking space away from Greig throughout the series, who had one of the Senators’ two goals Sunday night.
“It’s definitely annoying,” Knies said after practice Monday. “We’re going to play hard on him and not make it easy for him the rest of the way.”
Knies added he was surprised the cross-check penalty was reduced to a minor.
“I thought he got him pretty good in the head,” he said. “You gotta trust they made the right decision but, yeah, I think I saw it a little bit differently.”
With physicality coming from both sides, the Leafs came out swinging and showed they’re not a team that can be pushed around in the postseason. And the intensity is sure to only pick up as the Leafs host the Senators for Game 2 Tuesday night.
