Ottawa has a ‘civic duty’ to cheer on Sens in Game 6 tonight

The captain was right, the hometown heroes are back in the nation’s capital after pulling off an impressive Game 5 against Toronto on Tuesday.

Tonight, Brady Tkachuk said he expects the Canadian Tire Centre to be “pure insanity.” Yet again, the city is preparing for the atmosphere to be buzzing on Thursday, as the Senators welcome the Leafs for Game 6 of the Battle of Ontario series.

In the last two match-ups, the Sens have taken the upper hand, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

In Ottawa, the game will be projected on a large LED screen outside of Gate 1 at the CT Centre. The broadcast is set to start at 6:45 p.m. The CIBC Red Zone will open to fans at 4:00 p.m. with games, music and food available. No tickets are needed to participate.

The city’s mayor also said in a post on X that people have a “civic duty” to cheer on the team, sharing a letter he said can help get anyone “out of any unnecessary and unimportant meetings” while the game is on.

“This individual has important business to carry out on behalf of the city tonight, namely, to cheer on the Senators in Game 6. Please do not impede this person from carrying out this important task,” the letter reads.

The series started off with the Senators staring down a 3-0 series lead for the Leafs, which swiftly turned around after Jake Sanderson’s overtime winning goal in Game 4 in the nation’s capital.

Then the Pesky Sens found a way to knock out a 4-0 win.

When Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas asked Tkachuk post-game whether the Senators had planted a seed of doubt in the Leafs, the Senators captain replied: “I think so.”

Tonight’s game, the team will look for yet another win, pushing the series to the statistically unforgiving end for Toronto —13 losses in 14 chances to close out a series.

“I don’t know if I’ve coached in a louder building than those two games in Ottawa,” said Travis Green, the Sens head coach.

After eight long years of suffering, the Senators faithful could watch their team earn the sweetest of wins over their rivals.

With files from Sportsnet’s Alex Adams and Wayne Scanlan.