Tkachuk thinks Senators have planted seed of doubt in Leafs

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk believes his team has planted a seed of doubt in the minds of the Toronto Maple Leafs after cutting its first-round deficit to 3-2.

"I think so, we're not going to go away easy," the star forward said following Ottawa's 4-0 Game 5 victory Tuesday night, per TSN's Claire Hanna. "Our season is always on the line the last two games. Our mindset's not going to change.

"You lose - you go home. ... Do whatever it takes and leave everything we have out there."

The Senators were in tough after dropping the first three games of the series, but they've managed to extend their season with back-to-back victories.

Toronto outshot Ottawa 29-19 on Tuesday, but Senators goalie Linus Ullmark was up to the task to secure his first career postseason shutout. The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner saved 2.38 goals above expected at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Veteran defenseman Thomas Chabot opened the scoring in the second period, and forward Dylan Cozens came through with a shorthanded dagger in the final frame. Tim Stutzle and Tkachuk then added a pair of empty-netters for good measure.

Toronto is now 1-13 in potential series-clinchers since 2018 and has gotten outscored 48-23 in those games, according to Sportsnet Stats. The Maple Leafs are doing their best to keep a level head despite that daunting record.

"We're up 3-2 in the series," rearguard Chris Tanev said, per TSN's Chris Johnston. "I think we're fine."

Toronto head coach Craig Berube had a similar message for his team.

"Stick with it," he said, according to The Hockey News' David Alter. "We're up 3-2 in the series."

The Senators, meanwhile, are excited to head home for Game 6. Tkachuk told fans at the Canadian Tire Centre that they'd be back after winning Game 4 by a 4-3 score in overtime Saturday.

"I expect pure insanity, that's for sure," Tkachuk said of Game 6, per TSN. "(The fans) know how important they are. They know how much juice they give us. We just want to represent them well."

Though the Senators will have their fans behind them Thursday, bench boss Travis Green knows surviving won't be easy.

"We'll take a couple of hours to enjoy this, but we’re going to have to play our asses off in Game 6," he said, according to Postmedia's Lance Hornby.

Toronto won Game 3 in Ottawa and was tied with the Washington Capitals for the best road record (25-13-3) in the regular season.

"I don't think there's any panic in this room. ... It's the ups and downs of playoffs," Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said, per Sportsnet. "We've been here before. we're just going to put our best foot forward."

He added: "We're a confident group in here. We've gotta put this one behind us, learn from it. We're in a good spot here."