Marner leads Maple Leafs in 6-2 win over Senators in Game 1

TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

William Nylander and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Auston Matthews added two assists and Anthony Stolarz stopped 31 shots.

“It was intense,” Tavares said. “It’s called the Battle of Ontario for a reason. Hard-fought game. But we know we still can be a lot better.”

Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark finished with 18 saves.

“Have to refocus,” Ullmark said. “It’s just one game. That’s the beauty of it.”

The best-of-seven matchup continues Tuesday with Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena before shifting to Ottawa for two games.

The series opener marked the first playoff Battle of Ontario showdown in exactly 21 years when Toronto bested Ottawa 4-1 in Game 7 on April 20, 2004.

The teams went in opposite directions after that, with Ottawa enjoying a long run of success, including a trip to the 2007 Stanley Cup final, while Toronto made the postseason just once between 2006 and 2016.

The Leafs, who beat the Senators four times in the playoffs across a five-year stretch in the early 2000s, returned to the NHL postseason in 2017 — the last time the Senators made it — with a young core led by Matthews, Marner and Nylander.

The Senators’ rebuild, meanwhile, took a lot longer than expected, but finally gained this season. Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk finally made his playoff debut in his seventh year.

“All year we’ve talked about committing to the process,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “It’s no different now.”

Toronto, which has one series victory in nine tries in the Matthews-Marner era, opened the scoring at 7:09 of the first period when Ekman-Larsson fired past Ullmark’s glove to send the home fans into a frenzy.

“The atmosphere was great,” Stolarz said. “Had goose bumps when you stepped on the ice and the crowd goes nuts. I think that propelled us.”

Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson cleared a puck off his goal line later in the period, but Marner took a stretch pass from Matthews moments later and roofed a shot with 7:42 left for a 2-0 lead.

Ottawa got on the board exactly four minutes later when Batherson was fastest to a rebound Stolarz was unable to smother.

The Maple Leafs' goalie stopped Tkachuk on a breakaway early in the second before Toronto's power play when to work when Tavares knocked in his own rebound at 4:07 to make it 3-1.

Toronto struck 3 seconds into a two-man advantage when Nylander ripped his team’s fourth goal on just 10 shots at 7:19.

Toronto scored on three of six opportunities with the man advantage.

“We took too many penalties, they scored on (them) and that’s the game,” Tkachuk said. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”

Fabian Zetterlund had a great opportunity on an Ottawa power play late in the period, but Stolarz was there to keep the score at 4-1 through 40 minutes.

“Timely saves are huge, especially in the playoffs,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “They go a long way.”

Greig got the Senators back within two exactly four minutes into the third on a delayed penalty, but Rielly made it 5-2 just 45 seconds later on a shot that hit a Senators player in front.

Knies rounded out the scoring on another power play with 6:47 left to cap the scoring.

“We definitely have to stay out of the box, I’ll say that,” Green said. “Sometimes things (get) a little out of hand once in a while. I thought there was a couple calls that they did a good job selling, but it’s tough on the refs.

“But we can’t take that many penalties.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews (34) is stopped by Ottawa Senators' goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Toronto, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) makes the save as Toronto Maple Leafs' Max Domi (11) tries to deflect the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Toronto, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner (16) celebrates a goal against the Ottawa Senators during the first period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Toronto, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) makes a save against the Ottawa Senators during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators‚ Linus Ullmark (35) kicks away a puck while Toronto Maple Leafs‚ Matthew Knies (23) and Ottawa Senators‚ Artem Zub (2) battle in front of the net during second period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Matthew Knies (23) scores a goal on Ottawa Senators' goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) as Artem Zub (2) tries to defend during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Matthew Knies (23) falls over Ottawa Senators' goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' Matthew Highmore (15) and Toronto Maple Leafs' Simon Benoit (2) rough it up during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' Ridly Greig (71) scores a goal on Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) as Simon Benoit (2) tries to defend during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) makes a save on Ottawa Senators' Claude Giroux (28) as Chris Tanev (8) looks for the rebound during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) makes a save against the Ottawa Senators during third period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner (16), Auston Matthews (34) and Matthew Knies (23) celebrate a goal against the Ottawa Senators during first period NHL playoff action in Toronto, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner (16) celebrates a goal against the Ottawa Senators during the first period of an NHL playoff hockey game in Toronto, Sunday April 20, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner (16) scores on Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period of an NHL hockey playoff action in Toronto, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas (7-8-1) at N.Y. Giants (3-13)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Cowboys by 3 1/2

Against the spread: Cowboys 7-9; Giants 7-8-1

Series record: Dallas leads 78-47-2.

Last week: Cowboys beat Commanders 30-23; Giants beat Raiders 34-10.

Last meeting: Dallas beat Washington 40-37 in OT on Sept. 14.

Cowboys offense: overall (1), rush (9), pass (1), scoring (4)

Cowboys defense: overall (30), rush (t20), pass (32), scoring (32)

Giants offense: overall (15), rush (6), pass (21), scoring (21)

Giants defense: overall (29), rush (30), pass (20), scoring (26)

Turnover differential: Cowboys minus-8; Giants minus-3

QB Dak Prescott has a 14-game winning streak against the Giants since two of his losses in a 13-3 rookie season in 2016 came against them. It’s the second-longest winning streak against a single opponent in NFL history behind Bob Griese, who beat Buffalo 17 consecutive times from 1968-79. Prescott will get credit for a Dallas victory because he is expected to start. The question is how long he will play in a finale with no playoff implications. Either way, this will go down as one of Prescott’s best seasons. He enters the final week first in the NFL with 4,482 yards passing.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson gets to put the finishing touches on his case for a new contract, either with the team that drafted him or elsewhere. Robinson last week became the first player 5-foot-8 or shorter to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving since 5-7 Richard Johnson in 1989 and just the third since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. And he's playing against a Dallas secondary without Trevon Diggs, who was released on Tuesday.

Cowboys' offensive line vs. Giants' pass rush. New York's Brian Burns trails only Cleveland record-chasing Myles Garrett in sacks with a career-high 16 1/2, while rookie Abdul Carter has heated up with 3 1/2 over the past four games. Dallas would like to keep Prescott upright, no matter how long he plays.

Cowboys: RBs Javonte Williams (stinger) and Malik Davis (calf/eye) have been ruled out. The backs with a chance to be active have 54 career carries among them: FB Hunter Luepke (32) and rookies Jaydon Blue (22) and Phil Mafah (0). Mafah has been out all season with a shoulder injury, and is listed as questionable ... LB DeMarvion Overshown and rookie CB Shavon Revel have been dealing with concussions and won't play.

Giants: Two starters in the secondary are out: CB Cor'Dale Flott (knee) and S Jevon Holland (knee/concussion).

The Cowboys have won nine in a row against the Giants and 16 of the past 17. It's the longest active series in the league. Dallas' last winning streak this long was against Carolina from 1998-2012. ... Each team has been eliminated from playoff contention. ... The Cowboys are trying to avoid consecutive losing seasons for the first time since going 5-11 under coach Dave Campo from 2000-02. ... New York can still secure the top draft pick with a loss and Las Vegas victory against Kansas City or could drop as low as No. 7. ... This is expected to be interim coach Mike Kafka's final game with the Giants.

Cowboys WR George Pickens needs 80 yards receiving to reach 1,500 in his Dallas debut after the offseason trade from Pittsburgh. His only 1,000-yard season in three years with the Steelers came in 2023, when he had 1,140. … Ferguson needs one touchdown catch to tie the franchise tight end record of nine, held by Jason Witten and Billy Joe Dupree. … In their Week 2 game, K Brandon Aubrey had a tying 64-yard field goal on the final play of regulation and a winning 46-yarder as time expired in overtime in the 40-37 Dallas victory. ... Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart has accounted for 22 TDs (13 passing and nine rushing) with just five interceptions, in his first 11 professional starts. ... Robinson led the team with 113 yards receiving at Las Vegas. He had 142 in Week 2 at Dallas, which was before top receiver Malik Nabers was knocked out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. ... LB Bobby Okereke intercepted Geno Smith and had seven tackles last week. ... CB Deonte Banks returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD against the Raiders.

Daily fantasy players might be able to cash in if Giants RB Tyrone Tracy has another big game rushing and receiving.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) is sacked by Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) during a NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Patterson, File)

FILE - Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) carries the ball after reception during a NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Patterson, File)