In Ottawa, the Senators posted three goals in the first period and then held their collective breath until the final horn for a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
Chris Tierney, Tyler Ennis, and Alex Formenton scored for the Senators in a raucous first period.
Formenton’s goal came with one second left on the clock.
“We showed we can really play hockey tonight against a really good team, and Brady will help us a lot more,” the Senators’ Tim Stutzle said. “He’s a really good player, but he’s an even better person off the ice. Having him back, as a friend, is really, really good.”
Anton Forsberg made 46 saves in the win for Ottawa.
“He works. Every day he’s in shape,” Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith said. “So, when you train that hard, when you’ve got humidity and it’s hot, and the fans are back, in the third period you don’t fatigue. He just looked confident tonight. The goals they got are Grade A.”
Jason Spezza and William Nylander scored in the third period to put come excitement back in the game.
“I think we just have to learn from it,” Spezza said. “I think we learn from how they really blew the zone and pushed us back. I think we were a little caught in between early in the game. That’s something that [Keefe] does a really good job of looking at and going over. We’ll be very prepared for the next game against these guys.”
Ennis scored off the power play.
“That’s a strong forechecking team that’s fresh, playing in their home opener,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They’re going to have a little bit of a push there, but I didn’t feel like we weren’t in the game from the start. That wasn’t the case tonight.”
Both Toronto goals came with the extra skater.
Jack Campbell stopped all 10 shots he faced after relieving Petr Mrazek, who left the game with an apparent groin injury.
“I love the way the team never gave up,” Campbell said. “We just kept battling, and their goalie made a lot of great saves.”
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