For the first time since 2004, the Battle of Ontario is back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs will meet in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 1 of the series will start Sunday night in Toronto.
Ottawa making the playoffs for the first time since 2017 is already a big moment this season, but the team is eager to find more success against Toronto in the first round.
As the series is two nights away from starting, more pressure is on the Maple Leafs in the series with failed playoff performances in the past. While the Maple Leafs won the Atlantic Division this season, two forwards on the roster will be under the most pressure in the first round against the Senators.
Marner and Tavares will face immense pressure
For Mitch Marner and John Tavares, pressure on them to perform in the playoffs this year will be higher than ever. Both players are on expiring contracts, and both of their futures in Toronto could be uncertain when Toronto's season concludes. Both need to live up to the hype from this season.
In the 2024 playoffs, both Marner and Tavares struggled. Marner recorded three points and Tavares recorded two points when the Maple Leafs fell in seven games to the Boston Bruins in the first round.
For Marner, more pressure is on him. Marner has struggled to live up to his regular season success and translate it in the playoffs. Marner finished the 2024-25 season with his first 100-point season in his career. Marner led the Maple Leafs with 102 points this season.
While Marner has recorded 50 points in 57 career playoff games, the analytics may say different. In two of his eight playoff appearances, Marner failed to score one goal. Two times Marner scored just one goal in the playoffs. Three times Marner scored two goals in the playoffs. Since Marner first made the playoffs with the Maple Leafs in 2017, the Maple Leafs have only won one playoff series.
Tavares finished this season second on the Maple Leafs with 38 goals and fourth on the team with 74 points. However, both Tavares and Marner struggled deeply against Ottawa this season.
In three games played against the Senators this season, Marner recorded just one assist. Tavares went pointless in the two games he played against the Senators this season. For two talented offensive players, that can be a concern for the Maple Leafs heading into the series. Ottawa's defense and goaltending were able to shut down the Maple Leafs' talented offense this season.
The Senators swept the three-game season series against the Maple Leafs this season. Two of the wins were on the road with Linus Ullmark winning both games. One of the wins for Ullmark was a shutout win in November. In the only meeting in Ottawa on Jan. 25, Anton Forsberg allowed in one goal in the Senators' 2-1 win.
If Ottawa upsets Toronto in the first round, the future of Toronto could be very uncertain. A series loss to Ottawa could put Toronto in a difficult position on whether or not to pay Marner and/or Tavares.