There are nights when the score tells you almost nothing. Then there are nights where the score tells you too much. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ 7–5 win over the Ottawa Senators somehow managed to do both.
On paper, it’s a high-scoring Battle of Ontario win. It was entertaining, emotional, and worth the price of admission. In reality, it was one of those games where Toronto looked brilliant, reckless, confident, panicked, and oddly mature. Often, all these looks came within a few minutes of each other. In short, the Maple Leafs seemed like a team still trying to decide what it wants to be.
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Coming out of the break, there was rust early, edge next, and then some chaos. The Battle of Ontario always finds its edge. It doesn’t matter how quiet it starts. All it takes is one goal, one scrum, or one blown coverage, and suddenly everyone remembers what this matchup carries. This game followed that script.
The key? The Maple Leafs banked the two points.
Takeaway 1: The Power Play Got Simple, and It Worked
For all the talk about new voices and new ideas, what stood out most about the Maple Leafs’ power play wasn’t creativity — it was clarity. Shoot the puck. Get net-front presence. Take advantage of second chances. Do it over again.
(Photo by Reuben Polansky-Shapiro/NHLI via Getty Images)
Toronto went to work early, scoring twice in the first period, and neither goal required anything fancy. Auston Matthews was where power forwards are supposed to live — at the top of the crease. Nicholas Robertson made himself useful by being available. Pucks went toward the net, bodies followed, and good things happened.
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What’s encouraging is that both units seem to understand their roles. Bumper knows he’s a bumper. The shooter shoots. The net-front player stays there even when it hurts. That kind of structure doesn’t always grab headlines, but it’s miserable to defend. If this version of the power play sticks, Toronto won’t need to reinvent anything — leave it alone.
Takeaway 2: The Second Period Looked Like the Team the Maple Leafs Promised to Be
If you’re hunting for optimism, you’ll find it in the second period. Twenty even-strength shots. Pace and purpose. Pucks moved north instead of sideways. It was the most connected the Maple Leafs have looked in a long while.
(Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)
Morgan Rielly was more assertive. Forwards attacked the inside ice. The Senators chased instead of dictating. It felt like a team that came out of the break with a point to prove — not just to the standings, but to itself.
The question, as always, is whether that period was a glimpse of something sustainable or just a good stretch on a good night. Because when the Maple Leafs play like that, they don’t need perfection. They need repetition.
Takeaway 3: Third-Period Anxiety Remains Part of the Story
Then came the third period, and with it, some old habits. Soft clears. Risky passes. Odd-man rushes against. A three-goal lead turned into a scramble far too quickly.
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Give the Senators credit; they pushed. But the Maple Leafs helped them. Too often, protecting a lead still looks like survival instead of control. The Maple Leafs didn’t lose the game, but they lost their grip on it for long stretches. That distinction matters, especially as the games tighten up later in the season.
You can win like that once in a while. You can’t live on it.
Key Play of the Game: Matthew Knies Scores a Timely Goal
When head coach Craig Berube called his timeout after Ottawa scored twice in quick succession, it felt like a moment where a coach was trying to stop something bigger than the scoreboard. The building was sliding into that uneasy worry. The Maple Leafs were backing up. The game was tilting.
The response came from Rielly and Matthew Knies. Rielly threw the puck toward the net, Knies waited half a beat longer than most players would, stepped around his check, and calmly finished. No panic. Just confidence, patience, and awareness. The goal came at the perfect moment. In a night full of noise, it was the calmest play on the ice.
For the Maple Leafs, Take the 2 Points, Then Straight to Work
This game was messy, emotional, and imperfect. But it was also engaged, urgent, and offensively confident. That combination has been hard to come by this season. Now the Maple Leafs quickly pack up to face the Detroit Red Wings for another game that won’t wait for them to feel good about themselves.
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William Nylander was injured midway through the game and didn’t return to the ice. If he can’t play in Detroit, the margin for error shrinks, and the schedule keeps moving. Still, if the Maple Leafs can carry the second period with them and leave the third-period nerves behind, this win might mean more than it looked like at first glance.
