Back to back games where the Leafs could have closed out the series and shut out the critics, and back to back games where they perform poorly and can’t finish the series.

After Toronto’s overtime loss on Saturday night, many fans called for a lineup change in the forward group, namely with Nick Robertson being inserted into the lineup. If there’s ever a time for a change and a spark in your lineup, it would be up next for game 6.

Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark made 29 stops for the Sens, marking his first career postseason shutout in his 15th postseason contest. Stolarz made 15 in a 4-0 loss where he was only on the hook for 2 of the 4 goals. Toronto is now 1-13 in their last 14 series-clinching games.

“They capitalized on two chances and we seemed a little snakebitten getting pucks by Linus tonight,” Stolarz said. “At the end of the day, if you were to tell us before the series we’d be up 3-2 going back to their place, that’s a position that we’ll take.”

In the first period, there were no goals, but the overall effort from both teams were great. This was the only point in time during this game where the Leafs had any kind of momentum, any kind of poise, or any kind of adrenaline.

The first Ottawa goal came from Thomas Chabot, where a shot from the point got past Stolarz. Stolarz had no chance of seeing it, as he was blocked by about 4 players.

“He couldn’t see it,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “So, first of all, we can do a better job off that face-off and we’ve got to have a block there or we’ve got to have guys clearing the net out in front of the net so we can see the puck. One of the two.”

Toronto had some good chances throughout the game, one on a John Tavares breakaway, a Steven Lorentz breakaway, and a couple good slot shots. Matthews had a chance late in the game to put the Leafs on the board, but shot the puck off the post where he had an empty net. Ullmark stayed strong and battled hard, something that the Senators have needed to try to comeback in this series.

In the first half of the third, on a Toronto powerplay, Dylan Cozens scored shorthanded to put the Senators up 2-0. That goal felt like the writing on the wall that Ottawa had the game secured. The Leafs barely put pressure on the Sens for the rest of the game, allowing the Senators to score two empty net goals to seal the deal.

“We had chances to score, didn’t capitalize on our chances,” Tanev said. “They scored the goal and then defended well and won the special teams, which has obviously been a thing every game. Special teams has been a huge part of the game. And it will continue to be Thursday.”

Toronto needs to kick it into another gear quickly if they want to beat Ottawa in game 6. The Senators have all the momentum headed back to their home arena in front of their home fans, and they have no plans on giving the Leafs much room to work with. If Toronto wants to capitalize quickly, they’re going to have to put it to the Senators early in the game. Thursday in Ottawa is one of the biggest games this team will play. They have to be ready.