With their biggest stars staying back in Toronto, the Leafs still managed to spoil the Sens preseason opener at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators hoped the stronger half of their split squad would take care of business at home Wednesday night.
Instead, a Toronto Maple Leafs lineup made up largely of players fighting for jobs came into Canadian Tire Centre and handed them a 4–2 loss.
It completed a sweep of the night for Toronto. Across town at Scotiabank Arena, the Leafs dressed most of their stars and beat Ottawa’s other group, 6–1.
The home game was much closer, but Ryan Tverberg broke a 2–2 tie with less than five minutes remaining, and Teddy Blueger added an empty-net goal.
After a scoreless first, Henrik Rybinski opened the scoring on the power play at 3:51 of the second, putting home a rebound at the side of the net. The goal was initially waved off because the puck seemed to go off the crossbar and straight out. But the replay clearly showed the puck entering the net.
Dylan Cozens answered less than three minutes later. He took the puck off Leafs defenceman Blake Smith and beat Anthony Stolarz with a wrist shot to tie the game.
Toronto went back in front midway through the third when Steven Lorentz redirected a Marshall Rifai shot past Linus Ullmark.
Ottawa replied just 41 seconds later, courtesy of Hoyt Stanley. The young defenceman gathered a loose puck, patiently pulled it to his backhand and beat Stolarz to make it 2–2.
Stanley was the Sens top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, which isn't quite as impressive as it sounds. He was a fourth-round pick because the Sens had traded away their first three picks. But that slick goal won't hurt Stanley's stock with Senators’ evaluators.
Tverberg settled things at 15:43 of the third, beating Ullmark with a snap shot from the left faceoff circle. Blueger added some insurance, scoring into the empty net with eight seconds remaining. Ullmark finished with 20 saves for Ottawa, while Stolarz made 19 for Toronto.
The Senators will get one more split-squad night Saturday, when they face the Montreal Canadiens in simultaneous games in Ottawa and Montreal. Both start at 7 p.m. That will be the club's preseason finale. The regular season begins Oct. 3.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
