Battle of Ontario begins Sunday: NHL releases schedule for Senators-Maple Leafs playoff series

Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Game one of the Battle of Ontario will be Sunday night in Toronto, with the first game between the Senators and Maple Leafs in Ottawa set for Thursday, April 24.

The National Hockey League announced the playoff schedule for the first round playoff series between the Senators and Maple Leafs.

Game one will be Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, with game two in Toronto next Tuesday. The series will shift to Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa for Game 3 on April 24, with game four set for Saturday, April 26.

Here is a look at the playoff schedule for the Senators and Maple Leafs:

• Game 1: Sunday, April 20 at Toronto. 7 p.m.
• Game 2: Tuesday, April 22 at Toronto. 7:30 p.m.
• Game 3: Thursday, April 24 at Ottawa. 7 p.m.
• Game 4: Saturday, April 26 at Ottawa. 7 p.m.
• Game 5: Tuesday, April 29 at Toronto (if necessary)
• Game 6: Thursday, May 1 at Ottawa (if necessary)
• Game 7: Saturday, May 3 at Toronto (if necessary)

Tickets on sale

Single-game tickets for games 3 and 4 in Ottawa went on sale at 12 p.m. Thursday.

The Senators say there will be a “limited quantity available for Game 3 and Game 4 at Canadian Tire Centre.”

Tickets for Senators playoff games are sold at www.ticketmaster.ca.

Boost in season ticket sales

The Senators return to the playoffs for the first time in eight years is good news for the bottom line, with a spike in season ticket sales.

“We’ve been selling 75 to 125 a day in the last week, new season tickets for next year. That’s significant,” Sens president and CEO Cyril Leeder told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll.

“We’re upwards, almost now, a thousand new season seat owners in the last five weeks and it’s been great.”

Leeder says the benefit for the playoffs is rebuilding the season seat base.

“The real benefit for the business, you do better, obviously, by making the playoffs but you pay out a fairly hefty league assessment and you share revenues with the league in the playoffs. So, it doesn’t all flow to the bottom line,” Leeder said. “The bigger uptick really for us is rebuilding that season seat base and we’ll see the benefit next year.”

Leeder says while playoff tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, some seats will be held.

“Those tickets will be gone but we are holding some seats for new season seat owners,” Leeder said. “You could buy right up until game time next week of our game and you’ll have access to the home playoff games this year.”