Max Domi likely dreamed of this moment hundreds, if not thousands, of times growing up in Toronto, watching his father play for the Maple Leafs. Scoring in overtime during the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena.
Domi lived the dream Tuesday night, wiring the overtime winner off the post and in to lift the Maple Leafs to a tense 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series. Toronto held serve on home ice in the first two games and take a 2-0 series lead to Ottawa for the next two games.
Domi was not to be denied the winning goal Tuesday. The 30-year-old forward hammered a hard shot on goal entering the zone that was denied by Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark earlier in the game-winning shift. Then he eventually got the puck on right wing, drifted across the middle to set up players in front of Ullmark, and zipped his first playoff OT goal into the cage at 3:09 to blow the roof off the building. Just like in his dreams as a kid.
The Maple Leafs ran out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring twice on their first four shots against Ullmark. Morgan Rielly and John Tavares each scored his second goal of the series to send the Maple Leafs on their way.
But the Senators got a fortunate bounce on a goal credited to Brady Tkachuk at 15:41 of the second period, and Adam Gaudette’s neat deflection tied it at 14:47 of the third period to send this one to overtime.
Ottawa managed one shot in the extra period, and Domi had both of Toronto’s, including the one that mattered most.
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3 takeaways from Maple Leafs overtime win in Game 2 against Senators
1. Unlikely hometown hero
First, let’s get this straight. Domi was born in Winnipeg, when his dad, Tie Domi, played for the Jets. So, he wasn’t born and raised in Toronto. However, Tie was traded to the Maple Leafs shortly after Max was born in March of 1995, meaning Max spent his first 11 years on this earth with his dad playing for the Maple Leafs.
So, he counts as a hometown hero. And an unlikely one. Homegrown stars like Tavares and Mitch Marner come to mind before Domi for sure. After all Domi scored just eight goals this season and nine last, his first after signing a four-year deal with the Maple Leafs.
But he did once score 28 goals for the Montreal Canadiens. And coach Craig Berube may have unlocked something by shifting Domi back to the center position for Game 2, after starting him on the wing in the series opener. No matter the reason, Domi was a man possessed on that game-winning goal.
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2. Second to none
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, the Senators took it to the Maple Leafs in the second period. They out-shot their hosts 13-3 in the period and held a 13-2 advantage in scoring chances in all situations, including 7-1 in high-danger opportunities. Ottawa had a ridiculous 89.16 expected goals share in the second period, per Natural Stat Trick.
However, they only scored once, a power-play tally when Tkachuk’s back-hand pass through the paint with his back to the net deflected off Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo and over the goal line. It was a just reward for their hard work in the period. But Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz was outstanding in allowing just that one goal when his team was so thoroughly outplayed in the second period.
3. Pinball
Game 2 was full of puck luck and greasy goals. Rielly scored on a beautiful back-door pass from William Nylander, when the puck hit his skate and caromed into the net at 3:43 of the first period. It set the tone for how goals would be scored in this one.
Tavares whipped a centering pass toward the paint that deflected off Ullmark then again off Ottawa defenseman Nick Jensen before slipping over the goal line less than five minutes after Rielly’s goal.
For Ottawa, Tkachuk caught a break when Carlo was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then it took Gaudette coming out from behind the goal line to get a stick on Tyler Kleven’s point shot to finally get the equalizer past the sharp Stolarz.
Finally, Domi’s was the prettiest goal of the night, a snipe. But he caught a break too, when the puck hit the post and went in, not out.
