Maple Leafs’ Max Domi makes honest admission on costly penalty as Toronto misses chance at playoff series sweep

Max Domi and the Toronto Maple Leafs lost their first game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 4-3 heartbreaker on Saturday night in Ottawa.

Toronto had the chance to sweep away the Senators and advance to the second round, but they’re now forced to battle in a Game 5 back at home on Tuesday night.

For the first time in the series, the Maple Leafs lost the special-teams battle in Game 4. They allowed a power play goal and a shorthanded goal while going 0-4 on the man-advantage themselves. Tim Stutzle’s first-period power-play tally came off a very costly Max Domi roughing penalty where he hit Shane Pinto in the face with the butt end of his stick.

Domi was asked about the penalty he took in Game 4 during his media availability on Monday afternoon. The Toronto Maple Leafs shared the full video on YouTube.

“Sometimes it’s just a little bit of a reaction to kind of throw that. Obviously you don’t want to butt-end the guy in the face. Certainly didn’t mean to do that. But yeah, it’s one of those things where you gotta, you gotta be aware of your stick doesn’t matter if it’s a situation like that or a trip or on the forecheck, wherever it might be,” Domi said (10:37).

I mean, refs gotta do their job. They got to call that, and you gotta respect that. So it’s all nice to be better, and certainly myself included, and we’ll be better for sure.” Domi added.

Max Domi still has another three years remaining on the four-year, $15,000,000 contract extension he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2024.

Max Domi and the Maple Leafs have their sights set on a Game 5 win

Max Domi and the Toronto Maple Leafs are focused on tuning out the noise and finishing the job on home ice in Game 5.

Here is what Domi had to say when asked about the mindset heading into Game 5.

“Just shift by shift, period by period, and one game at a time. Obviously that’s as far as we’re looking right now; we’re not looking too far ahead of that. And we’re not dwelling on the past, just gotta win a game and go from there,” Domi said (11:16).

Max Domi has been held to just one point (one goal) through the first four games of the series, though it was an extremely important one, being the overtime winner in Game 2.

Domi and the Maple Leafs will return to action looking to eliminate the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 on Tuesday night. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Scotiabank Arena.