Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green says he doesn't have to preach to his club that they are the underdog in their playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"With the way media is today, you don't have to," Green explained. "There's no secret that, you know, most of you in the room probably picked Toronto to beat us. But in saying that, we have a lot of belief in our group. And still got to play the games."

The Maple Leafs host the Senators in Game 1 of their series on Sunday. Green, who took part in the 'Battle of Ontario' playoff series as a player over 20 years ago, talked about his team's preparation for the series. the winning side of things.

He acknowledged there will be an increased intensity that comes with an All-Ontario series.

When talking about the Maple Leafs, specifically, Green honed in on how well they are coached, led by Craig Berube and their defensive strengths beyond their scoring power, led by stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.

Q: You've got a lot of guys who are making their playoff debut. What's the biggest adjustments and what's the biggest games that you play with hockey in the game?

Well, I think the biggest thing is the intensity level goes up all areas of the game. And yeah, we've got a bunch of guys that are new to playoff hockey, but that's the exciting part of it.

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Q: What do you remember of the 'Battle of Ontario' being a player on the Toronto side?

It was fun. A lot of fun. Hopefully it's fun again.

Q: Brady's (Tkachuk) has been waiting a long time for this. Where do you sense he's at in this series?

Yeah, he's like the rest of our group. He's excited to play. I mean, you have a goal going into the season. I think it's a little different for each team when the season starts. There's certain teams that they know what their goals are. They know where they're going. I mean, there's certain teams that are trying to build their game and get a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. And, you know, he's a big part of what we've been trying to do, where we've been trying to go. I'm excited for him, just as much as I am for everyone else.

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Q: He's a focus for them, how much are Matthews, Marner, Nylander a focus for you?

Yeah, I mean, you're talking about elite players in the NHL. You know, we talk about top players in the league. Those can come up a lot. So we're going to have our hands full. We've got to check well. and be aware when they're on the ice, much like, you know, it's not something new that we just talk about because we're playing them in the playoffs. Every time the Leafs play, they are being spoken about in the other team's room.

Q: What worked against them this year? (undefeated)

Yeah, I think much like our season, you know, we don't rely on one player, two players. You know, I think we're a team. We need everyone to play well. and we've got buy-in as far as everyone's committing to the way we need to play. And you talk about the intensity of the playoff hockey. That's part of it. That's the sacrifice, that commitment, and we're going to need that again.

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Q: What have you seen from Jake Sanderson this season?

Well, I knew Jake was a good player coming in, and the exciting thing for us as an organization is he's still young. He's still getting better. I think we've seen his game progress as this season has gone on, almost from month to month, a different level, leading up to the Four Nations. I think him getting a chance to play raised his confidence. And, you know, there's a few guys on our team that would probably say the same thing about, that the game has kind of evolved since we're not a team that's, you know, ee're still improving our team and our players have improved as the season's gone on and he's one of them.

Q: What's the biggest challenge of Toronto?

Well, they're all coached. I know Chief. He's done a good job with his coaching. And, you know, when you talk about a team that's first and won the division, they've got a lot of areas that you need to worry about. You know, not just the scoring, which the other one knows about. They can defend well as well and they've always played remarkably this year.

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Q: We noticed him getting line rushes on the 4th line, but how much of a factor is Matthew Highmore?

Well, he's a big part of our penalty kill. He's fast. We can move him up and down the lineup. You know, especially on the road when they have last change. It's important to have guys that can kind of move around a little bit as far as certain matchups that you're trying to get on the road.

Q: When you walk into the building, do you think about your double overtime goal from many years ago?

You know, I don't know if I specifically think about that, but, you know, I have fond memories of this city, of playing here as a Canadian kid. And, you know, every time you come into the building, it takes you back to certain memories, and you still got it.

Q: Do you ever get a mental break during a playoff series?

Yeah, there's pressure. You know, I think especially in this series, there's outside pressure, there's outside noise. I remember it from playing here and how much pressure there is. And, you know, that's the exciting part, though. I know for our group, it's exciting.

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