The Battle of Ontario is set to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 21 years when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday.

Ottawa swept the Maple Leafs 3-0 during the regular season, but finished 11 points behind Toronto in the standings.

“We’re going against some of the best players in the world,” said Brady Tkachuk, the team captain and leading goal scorer for Ottawa. “That’s something that you dream about, and we have the opportunity to do it come Sunday.”

The Senators should be at full strength after Tkachuk returned for the regular-season finale on Thursday after missing the previous eight games with an upper-body injury.

Tkachuk is in his seventh season in the NHL, but has yet to play in a postseason game.

“It was seven long years, but it feels good getting into it,” Tkachuk said. “Now, for us, to check the box and get to the playoffs is great and awesome, but there is more that we want to accomplish.”

The intensity figures to be high between teams located just more than 270 miles apart.

Ottawa last appeared in the playoffs in 2017 and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Senators then finished in the bottom three in the Atlantic Division the next seven seasons before claiming the first wild card from the Eastern Conference this season.

“Looking back, I’m happy that everything’s happened because everything happens for a reason,” Tkachuk said. “It sets up this moment, and this stage, I’m able to share it with all the teammates who have gone through that struggle and tough times. It’s going to be a special experience.”

The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs for a ninth straight season, but they’ve only made it out of the first round once in that span.

Toronto won its last five games to end the regular season, which matched its longest winning streak of the season.

The Maple Leafs were without two of their top defensemen down the stretch because of upper-body injuries.

Jake McCabe missed the last seven games and Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed the last four. Toronto coach Craig Berube said on Saturday that McCabe will play in Game 1, but Ekman-Larsson will be a game-day decision.

Berube did not confirm Anthony Stolarz will start in goal, but he spoke highly of Stolarz, who led the NHL with a .926 save percentage.

“He has experience in the playoffs,” Berube said. “He didn’t start, but he has experience of being there and seeing it. Like I said, he’s been around for quite some time now. He’s had a great year, like both of our goalies, so he’s played extremely well this year and so he’s ready to go.”

Veteran Ottawa netminder Linus Ullmark, who posted the same save percentage (2.72) as backup Anton Forsberg, is expected to start the opener after a 25-win regular season in 44 appearances. The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner also had a .910 save percentage this season.

Special teams figure to play a major role in the series.

The Senators had the 12th-best power play during the regular season and Toronto was ninth.

Tkachuk had 14 power-play goals during the regular season and Drake Batherson had 13, but Tim Stutzle seems to draw a lot of whistles as well.

“We looked at a lot of that and talked about a lot of it,” Berube said. “We’ve got to be disciplined, but you can’t be tentative either.”

Offensively, Toronto is led by its big three of Mitch Marner (102 points, fifth in NHL), William Nylander (84 points) and captain Auston Matthews (78 points). Nylander finished second in the NHL with 45 goals and Marner was third in assists with 75.