Senators open post-Tkachuk era with a win over Leafs

Thomas Chabot and the Senators watched every other team raise the curtain on the NHL season.

The wait turned out to be well worth it.

Chabot had a goal and an assist in his first game as captain in Ottawa's grinding 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

"It's fun to be back home and watch some hockey at 7 p.m. on TV, but you want to be the team out there," said the defenceman now wearing the "C" in the nation's capital after Brady Tkachuk was shipped to the Florida Panthers in June after demanding a trade. "The week was long, but I thought we put in some good work." 

Brady Tkachuk requested trade, Senators GM confirms

Thomas Chabot named Ottawa Senators captain

"Pretty boring" added Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark, who made 27 saves. "Camp was short … we'll see if there's a little blessing in disguise." 

The victory, however, was tainted by the loss of No. 1 blueliner Jake Sanderson in the first period when he re-aggravated a lower-body injury.

"We'll know more in the next few days," said Senators head coach Travis Green, who is also minus shutdown option Artem Zub. "Sandy was smart enough to pull himself early enough that he didn't re-aggravate it too badly. He just felt that it was coming and took himself out.

"A smart thing to do." 

Chabot said Sanderson was "devastated" on the bench after getting hurt.

"It sucks" he said. "You feel for a guy. Unfortunately, I've been on that side of things quite a lot over my career."

Toronto pushed in the second period with Ottawa down to five defencemen before the visitors steadied themselves to even the score 2-2, and were then rewarded midway through a spotless third when Stephen Halliday swatted home a loose puck just as a power play expired.

The Maple Leafs'