Maple Leafs hearing 'more noise,' Senators building confidence ahead of Game 6

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs claim to be attempting to ignore their recent history in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as futile an endeavor as that might be in this hockey-crazed city.

Two hundred fifty miles to the northeast, Claude Giroux is trying to help the Ottawa Senators make history by coming back from down 3-0 in a best-of-7 series, something the forward experienced firsthand as a member of the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers.

Indeed, heading into Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, MAX), the 2025 "Battle of Ontario" has come down to a tale of two cities, one oozing with paranoia, the other steeped with optimism.

Blame the Maple Leafs.

After winning the first three games, Toronto has lost two straight including 4-0 at home in Game 5 on Tuesday, when the top line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies each was minus-4.

The loss means the Maple Leafs are 1-13 in postseason games where they could eliminate an opponent since Matthews, Marner and William Nylander started playing together in 2016 -- 1-12 since John Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract July 1, 2018, the center missing three of those games with an injury.

Craig Berube, in his first season as coach of the Maple Leafs, is aware of the dubious numbers, like the fretting fan base. At the same time, he's trying to get his team to look ahead and not get caught up in the rampant fretting around town that keeps serving up reminders that the franchise has one just one playoff series victory in 21 years (six games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2023 first round).

"It gets to the point in the playoffs where there is more noise," Berube said Wednesday. "A lot of past stuff, which I hear around here. That's fine. That's part of it.

"The only pressure they have is from their own teammates, in my opinion."

At the same time, the outside criticism is building when it comes to the Maple Leafs so-called Core Four of Matthews, Tavares, Marner and Nylander.

"It's on everybody on the team," Berube said. "I mean, I get it. Around here it's all Core, Core, Core, Core Four, but we're a team. It's on everybody on the team, not just four guys."

Having said that, Berube indicted he needs more from the top line.

"Checking is not just playing defense," he said. "Checking is offense. You check for your chances. You get to the inside. You work like a hound. It creates turnovers from the other team. It creates chaos for the other team. We can do a better job of that."

Asked about the jeers the Maple Leafs heard from the home crowd at times, Berube shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's fans. They pay good money to watch. I've seen it everywhere I've been. It's not any different here. It's the same everywhere."

Why was Scotiabank Arena so quiet Tuesday, besides the boos? Because Maple Leafs supporters have seen this movie time and time again, where they come up short in the postseason at crunch time. That certainly won't be the case for Game 6, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk predicting the atmosphere will be insane.

Why wouldn't it be? After all, the Senators can take the next step in becoming the fifth team in NHL history to win a postseason series after trailing 3-0, joining the 1942 Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings, the 1975 New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2010 Flyers against the Boston Bruins and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks.

"I mean, we won the last two, so obviously momentum's for us a little bit," Giroux said. "But at the end of the day, we're going to Game 6 at home and we're down 3-2, so we've just got to find a way to bring our best game."

Asked if the Senators have planted a seed of doubt in the Maple Leafs, he replied: "Maybe. We won two in a row, so we're playing some good hockey right now. We're finding ways to score more goals than them, and doubt or no doubt, it just doesn't matter.

"It's just about when the puck drops tomorrow, it's 0-0, so we've got to find a way to win."

If anyone in the Senators dressing room other than Giroux has reason to believe a comeback from down 3-0 is possible, it's Adam Gaudette. The Ottawa forward and native of Braintree, Massachusetts, is an avid Boston Red Sox fan. He revealed that he and several teammates recently watched a documentary on how the Red Sox became the only team in Major League Baseball history to overcome a 3-0 deficit by winning the final four games of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

"I was actually talking to my dad the other day. I was like, 'It's just like when the Red Sox beat the Yankees,'" Gaudette said Wednesday. "But yeah, those guys, you see it in the documentary, they just said, 'Screw it, what have we got to lose, you know?'

"That's kind of our mindset. You build confidence over one win and, after that first win, you know what it takes to win, and you just keep building off of that."

Should it unfold that way, it would be the highest of highs for the Senators and their city.

And the lowest of lows for Toronto.

NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report