Senators benefited from later season opener against Leafs

Thomas Chabot had a goal and assist in his first game as the Ottawa Senators’ captain, helping lead the team to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in their regular-season opener.

Despite both Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko scoring for the Leafs, it was Chabot, Stephen Halliday and Michael Amadio who helped the Sens win the first edition of the “Battle of Ontario” in 2026-27.

One benefit for Ottawa may have been their later start to the season compared to other teams. While most NHL clubs had already played their second or third games, the Sens benefitted from more practice and what some may consider a “longer” training camp.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton are joined by former NHL defenseman Cameron Gaunce to discuss Ottawa’s win over Toronto and whether the late start helped them.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I think the NHL’s schedule makers forgot the Senators existed because they didn’t play until Saturday. That was their season opener, while some teams were three games in.

How do you think they fared in the “Battle of Ontario”?

Cameron Gaunce: I think they did great. Yes, the Leafs dominated the second period, and that was going to happen when you have a group like the Leafs playing with the top-end talent they have.

When you look around the league, a lot of the discussion I’ve had has been the sloppiness that’s been going on because of the lack of training camp. Well, the Sens got an extended training camp, and it looked like it. They had a better system in place.

Thomas Chabot was a man possessed with more than 27 minutes of ice time after Jake Sanderson went down. Chabot scored the first goal, he was just named captain, and he played exceptionally well. He’s going to need to if Sanderson is out.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…