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They’ve got him in their sights.
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Not a small part of the Maple Leafs’ preparation for Game 1 of the Battle of Ontario against the Ottawa Senators was how to defend against Sens captain Brady Tkachuk.
“He was definitely talked about,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said on Sunday morning. “We talk about players on the other team, for sure, and it’s something we go over with. Not only him, but their team and individuals that have tendencies to do certain things and what you can expect out of them.”
The ‘certain things’ that Tkachuk does include scoring goals and getting in the face of opponents. His potential impact on the series could help it sway one way or the other.
We imagine Tkachuk will play as though he were shot out of a cannon in Game 1 on Sunday night, considering it will be his first Stanley Cup playoff game.
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“It’s definitely going to be exhilarating, I’m not going to lie to you,” Tkachuk said of what he expects on his first shift. “This mindset that I have and our team has, it’s a whole new experience, but it’s just another game, and we just have to do what we have to do.
“It has been a long time coming. All those times in the driveway, mini sticks, you think about scoring a game winner in the Stanley Cup playoffs. To finally be here is surreal.”
Tkachuk was a vocal supporter of his older brother Matthew when the Florida Panthers won the Cup last year, and recalled being on the ice celebrating with his family after the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the final in Sunrise.
“That’s something that will forever be etched in my brain,” Tkachuk said. “And that’s the joy that I want to experience. To see it up close, personal, and of course, have my best friend be able to win it, it was something that … pride is not even the right word.
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“It was an unbelievable feeling, and to have a first crack at it and this environment, this series, we can’t look past the opportunity of Game 1 tonight.”
On the other side, Sens coach Travis Green and his staff will have to find a way to keep Leafs captain Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander in line throughout the series.
“When you talk about the top players in the league, those three names come up a lot,” Green said. “We’re going to have our hands full. It’s not something new that we talk about just because we’re playing them in the playoffs. Every time the Leafs play, they’re being spoken about in the other team’s room.”
And how are the Sens, who finished 11 points behind the Leafs in the regular season, handling the underdog role?
“We don’t talk about a lot in our locker room,” Green said. “With the way media is today, you don’t have to.
“There’s no secret that most of you in the room probably picked Toronto to beat us. In saying that, we have a lot of inner belief in our group and we still have to play the games.”
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