Senators' Green: Leafs 'did a good job selling' penalties
The Ottawa Senators had trouble staying out of the penalty box during their 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, but head coach Travis Green didn't seem to think all the calls against his club were warranted.
"I thought there was a couple calls that (the Leafs) did a good job selling," he said. "It's tough on the refs, but we can't take that many penalties, for sure."
The Senators racked up 38 penalty minutes in Game 1, and Toronto converted on half of its six opportunities on the man advantage. It was the first time the Maple Leafs scored three power-play goals in a playoff game since 1999, per Sportsnet Stats.
Ottawa got two power-play chances Sunday, but Toronto killed both.
"Penalties are penalties," Leafs head coach Craig Berube said when asked if the difference in opportunities could be attributed to Toronto's edge in playoff experience. "We were disciplined. We're going to keep being disciplined."
There were no penalties called in the first period, and captain Brady Tkachuk thinks his team just got "a little careless" in the final 40 minutes.
"It's clear as day what the issue is," he said. "We took too many penalties, they scored on it, and that's the game.
"That's on us, we've got to be more disciplined. I think everybody's first-game jitters, nerves, whatever you want to call it, now that's passed. ... Obviously frustrated, but at the end of the day, it's a new game (Tuesday)."
In a particularly back-breaking sequence for Ottawa, Senators forward Ridly Greig was sent to the box for cross-checking John Tavares up high in the second period. Adam Gaudette was then whistled for cross-checking Auston Matthews, putting Toronto on a five-on-three. William Nylander capitalized on the two-man advantage to make it 4-1.
While it was a tough night for the Senators' penalty kill, Green was a fan of his team's even-strength play. Ottawa dictated 64% of the shot attempts and 65% of the expected goals at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The bench boss also made sure to defend Linus Ullmark. The goaltender surrendered four tallies on the Leafs' first 10 shots and ended the night with a .750 save percentage after allowing six goals on 24 shots.
"I like our goaltending," Green said. "I like our goalie a lot. He's a good goalie. He's won a Vezina, he's pretty good. There is no elephant in our room."
Ullmark, meanwhile, is trying to keep a short-term memory so he's ready for the next tilt.
"Just have the mind of a goldfish," he said. "Go out there and play Game 2 with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder."
The Senators will try and even the series Tuesday. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. ET.