Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares had a lot to say on Sunday night following a huge win against their playoff opponent the Ottawa Senators.
John Tavares had himself a nice Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night as he scored a goal and even got himself an assist.
Overall, the Maple Leafs dominated the Senators in their 6-2 win and now that they have a 1-0 series lead, there are a lot of fans who are actually excited instead of nervous.
However, the team cannot get too ahead of itself here. They have been in this situation before and you never know what can happen and how a team can surprise you.
John Tavares gets serious about the Toronto Maple Leafs
Tavares understands this better than anyone as he has seen the team struggle throughout the playoffs for years.
As a result, he is not getting head of himself here. While speaking to reporters following the game on Sunday, he noted that the team has a lot to improve on.
“It was intense. It was a battle, it’s called Battle of Ontario for a reason,” Tavares said. “It was a hard-fought game, obviously a lot of good things we did to put ourselves in a good spot to get the result we want, but we know we can be a lot better. As the series develops, we’ll have to continue to improve our game and execute, and look at the things we did well.”
It was said that the Senators dominated the Leafs on 5-on-5 but that ignores the context of the game. At the end of the day, the Leafs had an early lead and didn’t have to push as hard.
Regardless, the Senators are a good team and if they remain disciplined, than this will actually be a pretty interesting series. However, for now, the Leafs are clearly the better team.
They have more experience and they have a lot of motivation. Not to mention, they have been on a tear since the regular season. They should have no fear.
Tonight will be a big test and if the Leafs manage to win, a 2-0 series lead will go a long way as we head down to Ottawa.