Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist, Michael Amadio and Stephen Halliday each scored, and Linus Ullmark made 27 saves for the Sens in a 3-2 victory against Toronto.

A 3-2 Ottawa Senators win in the Battle of Ontario on Saturday helped soothe the pain of seeing defenceman Jake Sanderson go down with yet another injury early in this 2026-27 campaign.

Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist, Claude Giroux had two assists, Michael Amadio and Stephen Halliday each scored, and Linus Ullmark was strong in goal for Ottawa (1-0-0), which had to wait longer than any other NHL team to start the regular season.

No time to waste. Let’s get to grading.

The top two lines looked disjointed through 40 minutes, clearly not quite on the same page yet. The one constant in the top six, however, was Stutzle, who skated well, backchecked hard and was a handful for Toronto in the offensive zone. After receiving a stretch pass from Chabot in the second, Stutzle bought time for Amadio to catch up and join him on a 2-on-1 before delicately saucering a pass millimetre-perfect over a sprawling Morgan Rielly and onto his teammate’s tape for the easy goal. Stutzle had the biggest block of the game in the third, laying out in front of a Darren Raddysh slap shot on the penalty kill. On another PK later in the frame, he intercepted a William Nylander cross-ice pass to get a clear and then broke up a subsequent zone entry attempt. Stutzle had two shots and three hits in 22:51 of ice time.

Batherson struggled with his puck touches early, unable to get in a rhythm on the attack. Everything seemed to click, though, when he was on the ice with William Eklund. He set up Eklund twice on the man advantage in the second, first hitting him with a quick one-touch pass for what should’ve been a tap-in at the edge of the crease, and secondly when he found his teammate with a nasty no-look backhand pass for a one-timer in the left slot. Coach Travis Green decided to switch things up in the third, linking the two up at 5-on-5, and they took off from there. Batherson was robbed in tight by Bobrovsky two times in one third-period shift out with Halliday and Eklund. He had two shots, two hits and drew a high-stick in 18:02.

Foegele looked out of place on the top trio, capable of keeping up in a straight line but lacking the anticipation and quick passing that it takes to cycle with Stutzle and Batherson. This experiment might already be over, for now. Foegele did have a solid shift in the final minute of the game, killing some valuable time in the O zone by getting the puck deep, blocking a chip along the glass and getting the puck to Batherson.

Cozens’ offensive game at even strength was bland, incapable of beating defenders wide or with a skill move. A drop pass in the middle of the O zone went awry in the first, leading to a Maple Leafs rush. His man-on-man coverage in the defensive zone was lacking, getting walked by Nylander in the second on what could’ve been a highlight-reel goal against. Cozens was dangerous on the power play, getting off numerous slot shots from the bumper position and setting up Eklund in the slot with a slick centring feed in the third.

Eklund had ample opportunities to begin his Sens career with a bang, but totally whiffed on two brilliant feeds from Fabian Zetterlund and Batherson in the second (Zetterlund set him up in front while Bobrovsky wasn’t even in the crease). In the first half of the game, Eklund’s board play was uninspiring — Troy Stecher bullied him with a couple of solid cross-checks up against the wall — but he snapped out of it altogether in the third, becoming much more slippery below the goal line and taking rims and turning them into scoring chances. Eklund was trigger happy — and that’s good; they need him to shoot more than he has in the past — getting off a team-high seven shot attempts. He could’ve been slightly more careful when taking an interference penalty in the third, but that was a fine-worthy dive from Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

On the play that led to Halliday’s winner, Zetterlund made an athletic move to get off a one-timer on an awkward cross-ice pass from Giroux that was a foot too far in front of the Swede. Other than the aforementioned feed to Eklund, there wasn’t much more to Zettlerund’s game. The second line had little to no chemistry. Zetterlund didn’t play the final 6:08 of the third.

Follow Pinto around the ice and it’s impossible not to marvel at the details of his game. He thwarted a ton of seam pass attempts in the defensive zone, throwing cold water on the Leafs’ attack, especially late in the game while protecting the lead. Five of his seven shot attempts were fired pointblank from the right slot and looked destined to touch twine. He was even better than Cozens at getting shots off from the bumper on the power play. Pinto’s slick centring pass to Giroux for a redirect on the rush led to Chabot’s 1-0 goal. Stutzle was the only forward who played more than Pinto (20:27).

Perhaps a sign that his wretched luck on offence is being left behind in 2025-26, Amadio made no mistake finishing on a sweet setup from Stutzle for the 2-2 goal. The defensive stalwart was reliable as ever, and forced a good amount of O-zone turnovers, fishing pucks out of feet in board battles and finding Giroux and Pinto in the slot. Amadio drew a tripping penalty and hit a cross-bar in the third.

Green has found the perfect fit for Giroux on the third line. Not that he’s incapable of winning battles, but his younger, stronger linemates are doing the majority of the dirty work down low while he anticipates the play in the F3 position, stalking clearing attempts, outlet passes and loose pucks. If the NHL tracked interceptions, he would’ve finished with a dozen. Giroux’s hockey IQ, playmaking and poise with the puck shine brightly on the shutdown trio. Oh, and he also went 10-for-12 in faceoffs.

If Halliday can clean up some defensive details — he was still missing some assignments and had one dreadful shift in the second mismatched with Auston Matthews — then he’ll be a solid candidate to move up in the lineup. His playmaking is just sublime, and kind of going to waste playing with more traditional fourth-liners like Nick Cousins and Hayden Hodgson. When Halliday got on the ice alongside more talented teammates, he created some real magic. Despite the goal, he remains extremely pass-first. If he adds some selfishness to his play with the puck, he could become even more dangerous.

Cousins got in on the forecheck, threw some hits and had an important block midway through the third. A neutral-zone turnover led to a scoring chance against in the second, but he wasn’t a liability playing 7:21.

Hodgson took a run at Ekman-Larsson in the first and then did it again the next shift. The Toronto defencemen did not like that at all. Hodgson is a ball of energy. He had four hits in just 5:10. Of course, there is much to be desired in the rest of his game.

Sanderson stumbled awkwardly while attempting a hit on Nick Paul mid-first. He was irate on the bench afterwards, knowing his night was over. There was no update on Sanderson’s status post-game.

Jake Sanderson left the game after just 4:29 TOI. Was seen showing frustration on the bench after his nagging injury flared up. #GoSensGo

Not good. Ottawa dealt with so many key injuries last season, and are right back to it in game one. pic.twitter.com/jq2EcgaVEn

— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) October 4, 2026

Stepping up with the Senators’ star blue-liner out, that’s a statement performance from Chabot, who had two points and an incredible seven blocks in a team-high 27:06 of ice time. Chabot is a master at knowing exactly when to jump up in the play, following up on a Carter Yakemchuk neutral-zone pinch in the first, starting the counter and getting lost on the rush to score on a Giroux rebound to make it 1-0. Sensing an opportunity in the second, he wandered into the high slot, took a pass from Halliday and drew a slashing penalty while nearly deking out Bobrovsky.

Confidently activating down the right side of the offensive zone, Spence could’ve had multiple goals sneaking into soft spaces, and kept plays alive while pinching to chip pucks around opposing players to a friendly jersey. He blocked a Jack Roslovic shot in the third, but did get walked a couple times in the D zone.

Kleven had a decent game, providing some stability for Yakemchuk when they were paired together, finishing hits and tying up forecheckers so his rookie partner could take an extra half second to start the breakout. Kleven could’ve been better with his clears, icing the puck twice in one shift in the second. He wasn’t the only one guilty of this, but the Senators’ D allowed far too many centring passes to reach the goal mouth, not utilizing an active stick enough while gapping up. Kleven got two minutes for simply hitting Stecher in the third.

Yakemchuk’s performance was night-and-day compared to the last time he was in Toronto a week and a half ago. His puck retrievals were smoother, he got his head up earlier and it all led to cleaner breakouts. He used his frame to protect the puck from forecheckers, fully shoving Nylander out of his way in the second. Yakemchuk’s aggressive step-up in the neutral zone in the first led to Chabot’s goal. Quarterbacking the top power play in Sanderson’s absence, Yakemchuk used all his tools, firing 90-m.p.h. slap shots from the point and sneaking down the half wall to open up passing lanes, twice dangling a pressing forward in the third to set up a teammate in the slot. He looked like a brand new player compared to training camp.

Matinpalo’s night got off to a shaky start, launching the puck down ice on his first shift, and he had a hard time getting into a groove with his puck touches. His rims were unpredictable; his swats tended to land on opposing sticks. He was backtracking a lot. Matinpalo skates extremely hard into battles and passionately skates after loose pucks, but he can sometimes overshoot the play. He had one shot, one block and one hit in 18:48.

As well as the Senators truly played, they’re not in this one without Ullmark. He made key stops, including two nice toe saves on Nylander and Raddysh in the second, the latter leading to a counter attack and the Senators’ second goal. The Leafs may have struck iron six times, but Ullmark earned that luck.