By Canadian Press

Leafs preach discipline against Sens, vow to make life difficult for ‘annoying’ Greig

Apr 21, 2025 | 3:36 PM

TORONTO — Ridly Greig raised his arms and delivered a cross-check up high on John Tavares.

The Ottawa Senators forward was initially assessed a five-minute penalty that was reduced to a minor upon review.

Then, late in Toronto’s 6-2 victory over its provincial rival Sunday that opened the first playoff Battle of Ontario in more than two decades, Greig crashed into goaltender Anthony Stolarz after some light contact from Mitch Marner. The sequence had the Maple Leafs wondering out loud if everything had been done to avoid contact.

Matthew Knies wasn’t happy with either incident. Morgan Rielly, who has a well-documented history with Greig, said the focus can’t be on the opposition’s perceived antics.

Craig Berube, meanwhile, acknowledged it’s human nature to want to retaliate. Toronto’s head coach would also prefer his team continues to make Ottawa pay for its indiscretions between whistles.

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The Leafs scored three times on the power play in a spirited, chippy Game 1 to raise the curtain on a best-of-seven NHL post-season series that already has plenty of threads just 60 minutes into the action.

Greig was at the forefront post-game when Berube jokingly said reporters should “call the league” on the Tavares incident, and again when the player’s approach was raised to Toronto’s bench boss following Monday’s practice.

“That’s part of playoff hockey,” he said. “You’ve got to be disciplined as best you can.”

Leafs captain Auston Matthews said playing on the edge isn’t uncommon this time of year.

“There’s always guys on both teams that like to play that role,” he said. “It’s just making sure that we’re sticking up for each other, making sure we’ve got each other’s backs.”

Ottawa head coach Travis Green, meanwhile, said his team needs to address its own discipline to have a shot in the series.

“It’s a fine line,” Green, who suggested following Game 1 the Leafs manipulated officials on a couple of penalty calls, told reporters at the club’s hotel. “Playoff hockey’s emotional, competitive. I’d like to think we have a physical team.”

Matthews, whose Leafs will look to grab a 2-0 series lead Tuesday before hostilities shift to the nation’s capital, said his group was simply playing the game in front of them.

“We were hanging onto pucks,” he said. “(Referees are) making calls based on what they feel are penalties.

“I don’t think we were doing anything special.”

Knies, meanwhile, saw the Greig-Tavares incident “a little bit differently” than the officials, while the bruising Leafs forward also voiced displeasure with the Stolarz collision. The netminder, who indicated he was fine post-game, was rested for Monday’s practice.

“It’s definitely annoying,” Knies, who scored Toronto’s sixth goal, said of Greig. “We’re going to play hard on him and not make it easy for him the rest of the way.”

It’s far from the first time the 22-year-old centre from Lethbridge, Alta., has got under the Leafs’ skin. Rielly was suspended five games last season after he cross-checked Greig following an empty-net slapshot.

“There’s nothing to it,” said the Leafs blueliner. “Our group just has to keep our focus on playing our brand hockey.”

Berube, who ground through a lot of hard years as an NHL tough guy, said that can be easier said than done.

“I didn’t do a very good job of it a lot of times,” he said with a smile. “You’ve just got to keep preaching it, and they’ve got to understand how important it is. We’ve got to keep being physical, we’ve got to make it difficult for (Ottawa) as best we can. That’s got to be our mentality … just stay composed.

“I get it,” Berube added of the desire for a physical response when the on-ice temperature rises. “But in the end, you’re not going to really help the team.”

FEET WET

The Senators, who are in the post-season for the first time since 2017, dressed 12 skaters making playoff debuts in Game 1.

“It was a great experience for all of us to live it,” said defenceman Thomas Chabot, who played 512 regular-season contests before finally making the annual Stanley Cup tournament. “Not the result we wanted, but there’s still some positives.”

HOLMBERG UP, DOMI DOWN

Berube moved winger Pontus Holmberg to the second line in place of Max Domi alongside Tavares and William Nylander in Game 1.

That continued at practice, with Domi skating between Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson.

HALFWAY THERE

Toronto has not taken a 2-0 series lead since 2002 against the New York Islanders.

“Important to remain urgent,” Rielly said. “While also being composed.”

The Leafs have had a two-game advantage just once in nine tries in the Matthews-Marner era — when the club went up 3-1 on the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 before losing in seven.

“You can’t get complacent,” Matthews said. “We’re happy with the result (in Game 1), but we have to be better. We know they’re going to be better.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press