Halliday scores winner, Senators top Maple Leafs

TORONTO – Stephen Halliday scored the winner in the third period and Linus Ullmark made 27 saves as the Ottawa Senators downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night.

Thomas Chabot, with a goal and an assist in his first game as captain, and Michael Amadio provided the rest of the offence for Ottawa (1-0-0). Claude Giroux added two assists.

Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko replied for Toronto (1-2-0). Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.

Chabot opened the scoring with 68 seconds left in an even first period. The Ottawa defenceman joined the rush and fired a rebound past Bobrovsky after Giroux tipped Shane Pinto’s initial shot.

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Matthews tied things 33 seconds into the second when he redirected Morgan Rielly’s point shot before Marchenko — acquired a day before the season from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a blockbuster deal — backhanded his first past Ullmark on a power play after taking a pass from Darren Raddysh at 7:06.

Amadio knotted the game again at 12:40 when he finished off a 2-on-1 break with Tim Stutzle before Halliday provided the winning margin at 9:46 third just as a penalty expired.

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The Maple Leafs split their first two games of the NHL season — a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens and 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders — while the Senators were the last team to start their schedule.

Ottawa defenceman Jake Sanderson didn’t return after appearing to aggravate a nagging injury in the opening period.

TAKEAWAYS

Senators: Chabot replaced Brady Tkachuk as captain after the bruising forward requested a trade and was dealt to the Florida Panthers in June.

Maple Leafs: Associate coach Daniel Alfredsson, who played 17 seasons in Ottawa and spent the last three campaigns as an assistant, was behind the bench against his former team for the first time.

KEY MOMENT

Halliday swatted home a loose puck in Bobrovsky’s crease midway through the final period just as a Marchenko penalty of high-sticking expired.

KEY STAT

Toronto centre John Tavares donned a Maple Leafs jersey for the 600th time in the regular season. The 36-year-old is the 25th player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

COMING UP

Senators: Visit the Boston Bruins on Monday.

Maple Leafs: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2026.