The rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators, known as the “Battle of Ontario,” is one of the most intense in the NHL. David Alter revisits their memorable playoff matchups and the potential for a revival of this thrilling series.
It’s been over 20 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators last squared off in the NHL playoff series. If the 2024-25 NHL season were to end as of this writing (March 31), the two teams would re-ignite the ‘Battle of Ontario,’ which I truly believe everybody wants.
Since the NHL adopted the current divisional playoff format, the Maple Leafs have consistently participated in the post-season, facing mostly the same old rivals. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins have been the regular adversaries of Toronto. The Leafs did have a first-round series with the Washington Capitals, but that was only because Toronto was a wild-card team. However, the Senators seemed to be stuck in rebuild mode until recently, when they emerged as strong contenders for the first wild-card spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.
A History of Playoff Intensity
The games between the Maple Leafs and Senators have been intense. You can tell the Sens get up for those games, usually bringing their absolute best. But it also stems from a playoff history that the Leafs dominated in the early 2000s.
Their first meeting came in the opening round of the 2000 playoffs with Toronto winning the Northeast Division and taking on a sixth-seeded Ottawa. The Leafs set the tone by keeping the Senators off the scoresheet for the first two contests before winning in six games. The following year, the Senators had a standout season, finishing as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and facing the Maple Leafs again. The Leafs flat out embarrassed Ottawa, keeping them off the scoresheet until late in Game 3. Toronto swept the Senators.
For the third consecutive year, the Maple Leafs and Senators met in the NHL playoffs, this time they met in a 2002 Eastern Conference semi-final series. No doubt the history of the previous two years carried over, as many of the team’s core players were still with the club. In Game 5 of the series, Senators star Daniel Alfredsson hit Toronto’s Darcy Tucker from behind. With no penalty call on the play, Alfredsson scored the game-winner on the same play to give Ottawa what ended up being the game-winning goal and a 3-2 series lead. Despite the advantage heading back to Ottawa, the Sens couldn’t close it out and the Maple Leafs won the next two games to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
In 2004, the Leafs and Sens met in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. In Game 4, The Leafs lost captain Mats Sundin for the remainder of the series. Toronto was bolstered by the stellar play of Hall-of-Fame goaltender Ed Belfour, who shut out Ottawa in Games 2, 3, and 5. With Toronto leading 3-2 in the series, Alfredsson guaranteed his team would win Games 6 and 7 and finally slay the Maple Leafs. Although Ottawa forced Game 7 with a double-overtime victory, Toronto went on to win the series before being eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. It would take another 19 years before the Leafs would win another playoff series.
There was so much drama in that series and there has been drama between the two teams in present day. Who could forget when Sens forward Ridly Greig fired a slapshot into an empty Toronto net, resulting in Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly crosschecking him in the head? Everyone wants this series, and hopefully both teams will do their part between now and the end of the regular season to make it happen. The history of the Maple Leafs-Senators playoff matchups is filled with drama and excitement. As the 2024-25 season progresses, fans eagerly anticipate the possibility of these two teams reigniting their rivalry on the ice, creating new chapters in the Battle of Ontario.