Maple Leafs fans have more than one reason to view Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk as Public Enemy No. 1, and they let him know in a loud way Sunday night in Toronto鈥檚 6-2 victory in the opening bout of the Battle of Ontario.
Something tells me Leaf fans don鈥檛 love Brady Tkachuk.
鈥 Steve Paikin (@spaikin)
The chants of “Brady sucks!” were unrelenting through most of the first period. Tkachuk, though, insisted that he expected the less-than-kind reception at Scotiabank Arena for Game 1 of the NHL playoffs.
“I could care less. I mean, I don’t really give a s—-, to be honest with you,” he told reporters. “That’s not gonna affect me, and it’s a new game Tuesday.”
Mitch Marner's goal, two assists help 海角社区官网Maple Leafs thump Ottawa Senators 6-2 in Game 1 of Battle of Ontario. (April 21, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
In addition to being the face of the team standing in the way of what Leafs fans hope will be a lengthy playoff run, Tkachuk was one of听the villains in the 4 Nations Face-Off听against Canada, anchoring the American offence and scoring a first-period goal in the heated championship final while also getting into one of the three fights in the opening seconds of their preliminary round game.
But in the playoff opener, he was far less of a factor for the Senators.
The Senators faced an opponent with a distinct advantage in playoff experience. And lots of scar tissue. The wide disparity showed.
The Senators faced an opponent with a distinct advantage in playoff experience. And lots of scar tissue. The wide disparity showed.
Matching up largely against the Leafs’ top line, the 25-year-old native of Scottsdale, Ariz., took five shots but was left pointless. While the Leafs got production from their top players, Tkachuk and his linemates Claude Giroux and Tim St眉tzle didn’t find the scoresheet.
“We’re obviously frustrated,” said Tkachuk, who had 29 goals and 55 points in the regular season.
The Senators had a loud, physical first period, outshooting their opponents 13-5, but didn’t get on the board until Drake Batherson scored on a bouncing puck past Anthony Stolarz after the Leafs took a 2-0 lead.
They got into penalty trouble in the second period, with successive cross-checking calls against Ridly Greig and Adam Gaudette leading to the fourth Leafs goal from William Nylander. 海角社区官网scored three power-play goals on six opportunities while Ottawa was 0-for-2.
鈥淲e took too many penalties, they scored (on them) and that鈥檚 the game,鈥 Tkachuk said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 on us. We鈥檝e got to be more disciplined.鈥
Senators head coach Travis Green said he was satisfied with the team’s 5-on-5 performance, and suggested not all of his team’s penalties were justified.听
Leaf fans outside Scotiabank Arena go wild after Oliver Ekman-Larsson scores to put 海角社区官网ahead 1-0 just seven minutes into the first period of their Stanley Cup playoff match with Ottawa Senators. (Abby O'Brien / 海角社区官网Star / April 20, 2025)
“I thought there was a couple calls that they did a good job selling,” Green said. “It’s tough on the refs, but we can’t take that many penalties, for sure.”听
Senators goalie Linus Ullmark was next in the hot seat, drawing droning jeers from the crowd after the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner let in four of the first 10 shots he faced. Still, his head coach wasn’t shaken, defending his goaltender and reiterating his confidence in him.听
“I like our goaltending, I like our goalie a lot. He’s a good goalie,” Green said bluntly.听
As Ottawa prepares for the second game of the series, Ullmark said he鈥檚 taking a page from Ted Lasso鈥檚 book, keeping his memory short and his attitude positive despite the early loss.
“We’re just going to have to refocus on the next one. It’s just one game, that’s the beauty of it,” Ullmark said. “It’s just, have a mind of a goldfish, go out there and play Game 2, and a little bit of a chip on your shoulder.”听
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