Maple Leafs 6, Senators 1: Toronto's remade roster runs away with the Scotiabank half
Six different Leafs scored and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 13 of 14 in his first extended look in blue, as Toronto buried Ottawa in one half of Wednesday's split-squad doubleheader.
Preseason scorelines rarely deserve a second look, but this one carried real information: it was one of the first extended glimpses of the Maple Leafs roster rebuilt over the summer under new general manager John Chayka — including Sergei Bobrovsky in a Toronto crease.
How it unfolded
Ottawa actually struck first at Scotiabank Arena, with Tim Stützle opening the scoring in the first period, according to NHL.com's preseason roundup. Toronto's answer was immediate and relentless. John Tavares finished a 2-on-1 rush to tie it, Jake McCabe put the Leafs ahead before the first intermission, and the middle period broke the game open: Jack Roslovic on the power play, Zack MacEwen and Morgan Rielly all beat the Ottawa tandem. Auston Matthews capped it early in the third.
Tavares and Matthews each finished with a goal and two assists. Bobrovsky needed only 13 saves for the win; Ottawa split the net between Leevi Merilainen (21 saves) and Jackson Parsons (9).
Why it matters
Bobrovsky is the headline. The 38-year-old signed a three-year, $21 million deal on July 1 after Toronto traded Joseph Woll, reuniting him with his former Florida netminding partner Anthony Stolarz — who was winning the other half of this doubleheader in Ottawa at the same time. A quiet 13-save night against a Senators B-squad proves nothing on its own, but it is exactly the kind of outing Toronto paid for: unbothered, economical, drama-free.
For Ottawa, the consolation was Stützle looking like Stützle. The rest of the evening belonged to a Toronto side whose veterans — Tavares, Matthews, Rielly — treated a September exhibition with mid-season sharpness.