Jakob Chychrun had two goals and an assist as the Senators defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2.
The Ottawa Senators have their first victory of the new season, beating the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon 5-2. Jakob Chychrun led the attack with two goals and an assist in his first Ottawa home opener as a member of the Senators.
Four Senators finished the day in the two-point club. It included Claude Giroux, who was honoured before the game for hitting 1000 points last season. Giroux and Vladimir Tarasenko each had two assists. Brady Tkachuk had two goals and Jake Sanderson had a goal and an assist.
Anton Forsberg tripped on a TV camera cable during player introductions but he was rock steady in the game, stopping 19 of 21 shots. He was fine, so it was worth nothing more than a chuckle. But having a TV cable lying on the ice for Forsberg to awkwardly trip on in his first game back from double knee surgery was nothing short of ridiculous.
Chychrun set the Senators up well, scoring the first two goals of the game. One of them came after he was hit from behind by Sean Couturier. And he made sure to stare down the Flyer bench on his way by.
That seemed to set the tone for a feisty afternoon.
When former 67s captain Travis Konecny scored on a 5 on 3, he returned the favour, staring down the Sens bench. Mark Kastelic handled himself well in a fight with Nick Seeler after Kastelic delivered a big hit. Just one of several chippy moments on the day.
The energy in a sellout building was outstanding and not just because it was the home opener and a sellout crowd. In a brilliant pre-game ceremony, Daniel Alfredsson presented Claude Giroux with a silver stick for his 1000th point, Michael Andlauler handled the ceremonial opening faceoff, and Lyndon Slewidge came back to sing the anthems.
The fans were into it from start to finish, even throwing in the odd "We Want Pinto" chants.
The Sens outshot the Flyers 31-21 and cashed in on 3 of 5 power play chances. They also dominated in the face off circle at 61%. The three stars in the building were: 1. Jakob Chychrun 2. Brady Tkachuk 3. Jake Sanderson.
The Senators improved to 1-1 on the young season and are right back at it tomorrow, night, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning.