We all know that the Battle of Ontario has been looking fairly one-sided this year, and as a result, the Ottawa Senators have been lashing out with undisciplined play during and perhaps even before the game. The imbalance between the two teams has not been a pleasant one, with Auston Matthews having broken Ridly Greig’s stick when he nearly skated into the wrong bench and Brady Tkachuk giving a super emotional post-game interview after their 3rd consecutive loss in game 3. Things are looking heated, to say the least, and now, behold, the most cryptic tweet ever!
Just as we are trying to piece together what on earth is going on between the Senators and the Leafs, TSN’s Darren Dreger posted a cryptic tweet on X wherein he wrote, “A twist in the Battle of Ontario with allegations of pregame shenanigans last night. Sources say the NHL is looking at an incident in warmup prior to game three between the Leafs and Senators. Undetermined whether league discipline will follow.” Leaving fans wondering…WHAT?
A twist in the Battle of Ontario with allegations of pregame shenanigans last night. Sources say the NHL is looking at an incident in warmup prior to game three between the Leafs and Senators. Undetermined whether league discipline will follow.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 25, 2025
All a fan could do reading that was await more news and depend on their own powers of speculation and ability to piece together the bits and pieces from the past 3 games that have seemed more than a little sketchy. For example, and as mentioned above, Auston Matthews breaking Ridly Greig’s stick straight off the…stick, so to say, could very well have indicated something more serious going on. And of course, Greig’s many instigations. So the question is, what could it be?
What the “pregame shenanigans” between Brady Tkachuk’s Senators and Auston Matthews Leafs were
Lucky for everyone, the truth has finally emerged, though it isn’t as exciting as all the speculation. Given the NHL has been super strict about pregame antics this year, having issued calls to both Mark Scheifele and Joel Hofer following a pregame warmup standoff between the Jets and the Blues, the authorities in charge are currently investigating an incident involving Senators forward Nick Cousins and Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
Based on recently surfaced video evidence, it looks like Cousins shot a puck at Stolarz during the warmup. To be fair, the evidence is considerably blurry, and nothing looks too out of the ordinary. And though messing around with the other team pre-game is more than frowned upon, Stolarz seemed unfazed by whatever Cousins did as he went on to make 18 saves.
What’s more is that in the postgame interviews, Stolarz seemed more concerned with throwing shade at Ridly Grieg, who seems to be in his villain era this season. Stolarz and Grieg were seen having a heated exchange prior to game 3, and in the aftermath, Stolarz admitted to the press that he told the officials before the game to “Watch my back, and I’ll behave,” so the fact that Cousins is the Senator in question is baffling.
When asked about the incident, Ottawa Senators coach Travis Green made light of it, joking, “Well, it’s an active investigation. I don’t know if I can comment.” He then added more seriously, “Cousins and Stolarz have played together. I dunno. He’s probably trying to either laugh at him or make a joke or get him off his game. Is what it is.” Which, with respect to this one particular incident, might have been nothing.
Whatever it is that spurned the shenanigan, or whether it was a shenanigan at all, one can only hope that Brady Tkachuk has a strict word with Greig before the end of this series and that Auston Matthews breaks no more sticks, because there comes a point in the game where winning becomes less important than sportsmanship, and poor Cousins seems to have gotten himself caught in the middle of that imbalance!
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