The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators open their first-round NHL playoff series Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena, the first postseason meeting between the provincial opponents since those heated clashes more than two decades ago. “Great battles,” Tavares said. “Great teams going at it.”

With a new generation of the Battle of Ontario set to get underway, fans understand that there is little that connects the current Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators with the iteration of the provincial rivals that were regular playoff foes in the early 2000s.