The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped Game 5 of their first-round playoff series in front of a home crowd Tuesday night, falling 4-0 to the Ottawa Senators. 

With the series lead now trimmed to 3-2, the focus postgame was on the underperformance of Toronto’s biggest names, namely team captain Auston Matthews and his star winger, Mitch Marner.

Leafs head coach Craig Berube offered a direct critique of his top line, which features Matthews, Marner, and Matthew Knies.

“There was not enough speed through the neutral zone with that line to create in the offensive zone off of that,” Berube said. “They were just a little bit late on things and didn’t create enough stoppages in the offensive zone. 

”It was one-and-done too much for me with that line in the offensive zone.”

Matthews, Marner, and Knies were on the ice for every Ottawa goal. None of them scored a point on Tuesday, and Knies earned two penalty minutes.

The trio combined for 11 shots, but Knies was the lone player among those three to attempt more (six) than three shots in Game 5.

With the game still in reach and the Senators only up one goal midway through the third period, Matthews attempted a power-play pass to Marner that was intercepted. The Senators converted it into a 2-on-1 goal.

Short-handed goal for Ottawa!
Scored by Dylan Cozens with 11:36 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Adam Gaudette.
Toronto: 0
Ottawa: 2#OTTvsTOR#LeafsForever#GoSensGopic.twitter.com/EsTsRQTFJX

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 30, 2025

“I just tried to find Mitchy up top, and I thought we drew them in,” Matthews said. “I didn’t see the guy there, and he picked it off. That’s on me. I have to make a better play.”

“We’ll be better next game and get some more bodies in front of him,” Matthews said. “This time of year it’s greasy goals. It’s not the prettiest of things, so that’s the way you have to approach it.”

Toronto has now lost 13 of 14 series-clinching opportunities since 2018. The Senators, meanwhile, have won two straight and forced a Game 6 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Thursday.

Related: Paul Bissonnette Links Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner to Penguins

Related: Brady Tkachuk’s Strong Message Before Facing ‘Desperate’ Maple Leafs in Game 5

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