The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators will renew playoff hostilities Sunday — the first time the provincial rivals have faced off in a post-season Battle of Ontario in more than two decades.
Toronto won all four series played between the teams from 2000 through 2004, including two victories in Game 7.
The Canadian Press takes a look at some of the key moments from that era:
THOMAS PLAYS HERO
The Leafs and Senators met in the playoffs for the first time in 2000. Ottawa led 1-0 late in Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 when Steve Thomas scored the tying goal in the third period. The teams played a back-and-forth overtime that saw Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph and Ottawa counterpart Tom Barrasso trade saves. Joseph was nearly guilty of gifting the Senators the winner, but the Leafs broke the other way, with Sergei Berezin finding Thomas on a 2-on-1 to clinch the victory and a 3-2 series lead. Toronto then fell behind Ottawa 2-0 in Game 6 only to score four times in the second period — the first off the stick of Thomas — to clinch the first playoff Battle of Ontario 4-2.
SUNDIN'S BLAST, CUJO SHINES
The teams met again the following spring, but unlike the previous series, the Senators entered as decided favourites coming off a franchise-best 109-point season. The Leafs, who were 19 points back in the standings, took the opener 1-0 in OT thanks to an extra-time blast from captain Mats Sundin and a 36-save performance from Joseph. The Toronto netminder then stopped 37 shots in a 3-0 victory in Game 2. Ottawa finally broke through late in Game 3 to tie that contest 2-2, but Cory Cross fired the OT winner before Toronto completed the stunning sweep in Game 4.
TENSIONS RISE
The Senators and Leafs tangled for the third straight post-season in 2002 after both advanced in the first round. Ottawa upset the Philadelphia Flyers in five, while Toronto topped the New York Islanders in seven. The clubs split the first four contests before things boiled over late in Game 5. Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson crushed Leafs winger Darcy Tucker from behind — no penalty was called on the play — and then buried the winner seconds later. Ottawa took an early 2-0 lead in Game 6 looking to close out the series, but Senators defenceman Ricard Persson slammed Leafs tough guy Tie Domi into the boards from behind and was assessed a five-minute major. Toronto scored twice on the ensuing power play on the way to picking up a 4-3 win before taking Game 7 at home 3-0.
TUCKER FLIPS
The Leafs antagonist was in the middle of the action again in the 2002-03 regular season in a heated exchange that saw him try to fight the entire Ottawa bench, including Senators tough guy Chris Neil. Tucker received 42 minutes in penalties and was suspended five games, but the teams didn't meet in the playoffs. The Leafs were bounced by Philadelphia in the first round, while the Senators fell to the New Jersey Devils, who went on to win the Stanley Cup, in the Eastern Conference final.
PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1
Alfredsson was already a target for Leafs fans after the hit on Tucker when he poured gas on the fire during the 2003-04 regular season. Sundin was suspended one game by the NHL for accidentally throwing his broken stick into the crowd. Ottawa happened to be playing in Toronto when Sundin had to watch, and Alfredsson playfully mocked his Swedish countryman by fake tossing his own broken stick before dropping it onto the ice. Alfredsson would be loudly booed every time he touched the puck the rest of his career in Toronto for both the Tucker hit and Sundin stick jab.
GAME 7 HEROICS
Toronto and Ottawa played another hard-fought series in the first round of the playoffs that spring. The Senators trailed the series 3-2, but won Game 6 in double overtime at home to set up another winner-take-all finale. Leafs forward Joe Nieuwendyk scored two soft goals on Ottawa netminder Patrick Lalime in the first period of Game 7 on the way to a 4-1 victory that sealed a fourth playoff series victory in five years for Toronto. Lalime would never play another game for the Senators, while head coach Jacques Martin was fired.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
