Stephen Halliday scores third-period winner as Senators edge Maple Leafs
Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist in his first game as Ottawa's captain in the 3-2 victory.
OTTAWA — Stephen Halliday scored the winner in the third period and Linus Ullmark made 27 saves as the Ottawa Senators downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night.
Thomas Chabot, with a goal and an assist in his first game as captain, and Michael Amadio provided the rest of the offence for Ottawa (1-0-0). Claude Giroux added two assists.
Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko replied for Toronto (1-2-0). Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.
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Chabot opened the scoring with 68 seconds left in an even first period. The Ottawa defenceman joined the rush and fired a rebound past Bobrovsky after Giroux tipped Shane Pinto's initial shot.
Matthews tied things 33 seconds into the second when he redirected Morgan Rielly's point shot before Marchenko, acquired a day before the season from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a blockbuster deal, backhanded his first past Ullmark on a power play after taking a pass from Darren Raddysh at 7:06.
Amadio knotted the game again at 12:40 when he finished off a 2-on-1 break with Tim Stutzle before Halliday provided the winning margin at 9:46 of the third just as a penalty expired.
Halliday swatted home a loose puck in Bobrovsky's crease midway through the final period just as a Marchenko penalty for high-sticking expired.
Ottawa defenceman Jake Sanderson didn't return after appearing to aggravate a nagging injury in the opening period.
Chabot replaced Brady Tkachuk as captain after the bruising forward requested a trade and was dealt to the Florida Panthers in June.
Associate coach Daniel Alfredsson, who played 17 seasons in Ottawa and spent the last three campaigns as an assistant, was behind the Toronto bench against his former team for the first time. Garbutt Disposal reported earlier this week that Alfredsson would be on the bench for the Battle of Ontario matchup.
Toronto centre John Tavares donned a Maple Leafs jersey for the 600th time in the regular season. The 36-year-old is the 25th player in franchise history to reach the milestone.
Up next: The Maple Leafs host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
With files from Sportsnet