Carter Yakemchuk gave the Senators exactly the kind of finish they needed on a messy night at Canadian Tire Centre.
The rookie defenceman broke a 1-1 tie late in the third period and sent Ottawa to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in front of a sellout crowd of 17,501. Yakemchuk, 21, hammered home a point shot with 6:59 left to give the Senators their third victory in four games to open the season.
It was a timely answer for a team that didn’t look sharp for long stretches. Ottawa’s power play had already spent much of the night looking out of sync, but Yakemchuk’s blast delivered when the Senators needed it most.
The win came with a heavy price, though. Ottawa finished the game with only 11 forwards after winger William Eklund, the club’s biggest off-season acquisition, left in the first period with a leg or ankle injury and did not return.
Eklund’s exit added another layer of concern to a lineup already missing top defencemen Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub. Rookie blueliner Hoyt Stanley was recalled Thursday morning, made his NHL debut, took his rookie lap before the game and stepped in after Cameron Crotty was under the weather.
The Senators were far from clean in the opening 40 minutes. They went eight minutes without a shot in the second period and struggled to build sustained pressure on Philadelphia. Linus Ullmark had to be sharp to keep Ottawa afloat.
Still, the Flyers found a way to tie it. Matvei Michkov made it 1-1 at 7:46 of the second period when a puck slipped through Ullmark. Referee Chris Rooney had initially blown the play dead with a quick whistle, but the goal stood after review.
Ottawa had plenty of chances to create more separation early. The Senators got four straight power plays in the first period, but led only 1-0 after 20 minutes and were outshot 11-8. Their man advantage never really settled in, and the puck wasn’t getting through traffic often enough.
Nick Cousins supplied Ottawa’s first goal of the season just as that opening power play expired, redirecting a Tyler Kleven point shot at 10:14.
The Senators are now 2-for-17 on the power play this season, a number that clearly needs to move in the right direction.
Eklund’s injury was the other major storyline of the night. He appeared to catch his left leg or ankle in a rut while chasing a puck in the corner of Philadelphia’s zone before being hit by Simon Benoit. He writhed in pain and had to be helped off the ice without putting weight on his left leg.
“You never want to see a teammate go down like that. He’s been playing great for us,” Cousins told TSN during the first intermission.
“It’s super sad to see. Guys are going to have to step up collectively to fill his shoes.”
Thursday’s game was the 34th home opener in franchise history, and Ottawa came in with a 19-9-3-2 record in those games. The Senators had won four of their previous five home openers, and this was only the second time in franchise history they hosted the Flyers in one.
Thomas Chabot, now the longest-serving Senator, skated in front of the home crowd for the first time with the captain’s “C” on his jersey and got a warm reception. Fans chanted, “Chabby, Chabby.”
“It feels like it took a week before we played our first game, let alone be at home,” Chabot said. “It’s exciting.
The energy was great this morning. We’re fired up to get back in front of our fans.”
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