<p>With their backs against the wall, the Ottawa Senators <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-ottawa-senators-force-toronto-maple-leafs">managed to force Game 5</a> Saturday night, defeating the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/toronto-maple-leafs/line-combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> 4-3 in yet another OT thriller.</p>
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<p>While the Leafs were certainly hoping to get the sweep in the first round Battle of Ontario, it didn&#8217;t come together in the end, despite a four minute power play in overtime. Speaking after Saturday night&#8217;s loss, head coach Craig Berube was candid about the one factor that cost them the game.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think special teams,&#8221; Berube said. &#8220;We gave up a PP goal for them and a shorty against our PP. We had the opportunities with the four minuter in overtime, didn&#8217;t get it done.&#8221;</p>
<p>The overtime man advantage took place without one key player, as John Tavares missed a chunk of the period after being taken down by Ottawa&#8217;s Artem Zub. Berube confirmed after the game that there&#8217;s no concern about Tavares&#8217; health after he came back to the bench later in the period. Pressed about what went wrong with the power play aside from Tavares, Berube brushed it off as a bad night.</p>
<p>&#8220;We had some good looks,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Matthews hit the post, some good looks didn&#8217;t go in, not gonna look at it too much.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now 1-12 in their last 13 potential series clinching games, there&#8217;s no doubt that over the past two decades the Leafs have had trouble going in for the kill when it really came down to it. Asked about another series winning opportunity blown Saturday, Berube rejected the notion that Toronto messed anything up.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think that was the case tonight,&#8221; Berube said. &#8220;I thought our team played extremely hard, did a lot of great things, we gave up four shots in two periods. I thought we defended hard, played hard. Bounces go one way or another, I&#8217;m not too concerned about it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Not only did Saturday night&#8217;s loss prevent the Leafs from booking their ticket to the second round, but it also snapped Anthony Stolarz&#8217;s 11-game winning streak, as the netminder conceded four goals on 21 shots for his worst stat line of the series so far. With a solid backup sitting on the bench in Joseph Woll, some fans may be quick to question who should get the start for Game 5. But Berube was absolutely steadfast is sticking by his starter tonight,</p>
<p>&#8220;He was solid,&#8221; Berube said. &#8220;That last goal, he can&#8217;t see anything, there&#8217;s a lot of people in front of him on that shot. He made a lot of good saves for us. I thought he was comfortable, played well. I am not concerned about Stolarz.&#8221;</p>
<p>Consider that your confirmation that Stolarz will be between the pipes for Game 5 Monday, when they return to Scotiabank Arena with a chance to punch their ticket to the Conference Semi-Finals in front of a home crowd.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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With their backs against the wall, the Ottawa Senators <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-ottawa-senators-force-toronto-maple-leafs">managed to force Game 5</a> Saturday night, defeating the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/toronto-maple-leafs/line-combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> 4-3 in yet another OT thriller.
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While the Leafs were certainly hoping to get the sweep in the first round Battle of Ontario, it didn't come together in the end, despite a four minute power play in overtime. Speaking after Saturday night's loss, head coach Craig Berube was candid about the one factor that cost them the game.

"I think special teams," Berube said. "We gave up a PP goal for them and a shorty against our PP. We had the opportunities with the four minuter in overtime, didn't get it done."

The overtime man advantage took place without one key player, as John Tavares missed a chunk of the period after being taken down by Ottawa's Artem Zub. Berube confirmed after the game that there's no concern about Tavares' health after he came back to the bench later in the period. Pressed about what went wrong with the power play aside from Tavares, Berube brushed it off as a bad night.

"We had some good looks," he said. "Matthews hit the post, some good looks didn't go in, not gonna look at it too much."

Now 1-12 in their last 13 potential series clinching games, there's no doubt that over the past two decades the Leafs have had trouble going in for the kill when it really came down to it. Asked about another series winning opportunity blown Saturday, Berube rejected the notion that Toronto messed anything up.

"I don't think that was the case tonight," Berube said. "I thought our team played extremely hard, did a lot of great things, we gave up four shots in two periods. I thought we defended hard, played hard. Bounces go one way or another, I'm not too concerned about it."

Not only did Saturday night's loss prevent the Leafs from booking their ticket to the second round, but it also snapped Anthony Stolarz's 11-game winning streak, as the netminder conceded four goals on 21 shots for his worst stat line of the series so far. With a solid backup sitting on the bench in Joseph Woll, some fans may be quick to question who should get the start for Game 5. But Berube was absolutely steadfast is sticking by his starter tonight,

"He was solid," Berube said. "That last goal, he can't see anything, there's a lot of people in front of him on that shot. He made a lot of good saves for us. I thought he was comfortable, played well. I am not concerned about Stolarz."

Consider that your confirmation that Stolarz will be between the pipes for Game 5 Monday, when they return to Scotiabank Arena with a chance to punch their ticket to the Conference Semi-Finals in front of a home crowd.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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