Nobody could have scripted a more perfect start to the newest era in the nation’s capital. For the twelfth straight year, the Ottawa Senators opened their season with the first goal of the game in the Battle of Ontario. The organization has now tied the league record which is shared by the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins.What made this goal even more special was the fact that it came from the newly named captain, Thomas Chabot.
Welcome to the Chabot era
Just days after being named the eleventh captain in Senators history, Chabot made his presence known with the ‘C’ on his chest at Scotiabank Arena. With 1:09 left in the first period, Chabot jumped into the right place at the right time to recover a lateral rebound off of Giroux’s redirect and beat Sergei Bobrovsky. Chabot’s hockey IQ paired with sneaky feeds from Giroux and centreman Shane Pinto allowed the Senators to capitalize on a rush created off of a failed breakout pass.
CAPTAIN CHABOT SCORES IN HIS FIRST GAME AS SENS CAPTAIN 🔥🚨 pic.twitter.com/ro0DRg354i
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 3, 2026
Chabot becomes the first Senators captain to open the scoring for the organization since his predecessor Brady Tkachuk scored Ottawa’s first goal of the season against the Buffalo Sabres on October 13, 2022. He also follows the legacy of Daniel Alfredsson who did this once in his tenure as captain of the Senators on October 3, 2009 at Madison Square Garden. Surely this moment was nostalgic for Alfredsson while he watched from the sidelines as an associate coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A silver lining
Chabot’s stoic presence and powerful shot gave Senators fans something to smile about as the blueline injuries continue to plague their roster. Defenceman Artem Zub had a reccent setback in his recovery from knee surgery and star-studded defender Jake Sanderson has been dealing with injury that seems to be lingering. Despite suiting up for tonight’s game, Sanderson played just 4:29 in the first period and was ruled out of the game at the start of the second period. With a questionable status of two of the team’s top defencemen, Chabot will be expected to absorb some of their minutes.
What’s most promising is the fact that Chabot’s chemistry with linemate Jordan Spence seemed to pick up where it left off when the Senators ended their season with a first round exit to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last season, the duo was a top pairing across the league with a 64.4% expected goals percentage and 3.46 expected goals per 60 minutes.
This goal marks the beginning of something special in Kanata, Ontario. The Thomas Chabot era brings a new identity and a renewed sense of optimism to a Senators team that is just itching to take its next step. He has been known for leading by example, and if his first goal as captain tonight is any indication, the Senators are in good hands.
Add us as a preferred source on Google