Tavares will get a taste of classic Toronto-Ottawa rivalry on Saturday
TORONTO — Growing up in Oakville as a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares remembers the great playoff battles his favourite National Hockey League team had with the Ottawa Senators.
It doesn’t seem likely he’ll get to write his own chapter in the rivalry any time soon.
Toronto has Stanley Cup aspirations following this summer’s addition of Tavares, while Ottawa is in rebuild mode after dealing captain and star defenceman Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks on the eve of training camp.
The Leafs and Senators, who meet in Toronto on Saturday night, tangled in the playoffs on four occasions between 1999-2000 and 2003-04, with Toronto coming out on top each time.
Two of the series went seven games, one went six, and another ended in a sweep during a period where opposing fans regularly cursed names like Darcy Tucker and Daniel Alfredsson.
“It was obviously very intense,” Tavares recalled after practice Friday. “Being division opponents in the same province, you develop that type of bad blood over the years.
“Just some great hockey, some emotional games, some big goals.”
But Toronto went on to miss the post-season 10 of the next 11 years following the 2004-05 lockout, while Ottawa made the playoffs seven times, including a run to the Cup final in 2007, causing the rivalry to fizzle somewhat.
The teams are now at opposite ends of the spectrum ahead of the first meeting of this season, but Leafs head coach Mike Babcock will be looking for a lot more from his players after Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime victory against the improved Montreal Canadiens on opening night.
“You’re going to get a challenge,” he said. “Teams aren’t coming in here to lose.
“Everybody at this time of the year is real confident in their team and feeling good about themselves.”
Montreal’s roster, devoid of stars save for goalie Carey Price, outworked Toronto for much of the game Wednesday and probably felt unlucky to not come away with both points.
“We’ve got to get confidence by being better through the neutral zone with the puck, by being harder on the other team in the offensive zone, spending more time there, so it’s easier for our defence to execute,” Babcock said.
“We didn’t do a very good job of that (against Montreal) and made it hard for ourselves.”
The Senators, meanwhile, played an inspired first game at home on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks before falling 4-3 in overtime.
Ottawa’s younger players showed their speed and exuberance, but failed to capitalize on chances to put the Blackhawks away before getting exposed defensively and blowing a 3-2 third-period lead.
“It’s the NHL so you’re never really playing a bad team,” Toronto said centre Auston Matthews said of Saturday’s matchup. “Guys are NHL players, they work hard and you’ve got to come prepared.”