Tarasenko Scores First in Senators' Win

Good morning. We hope you had a great weekend.

Friday’s poll participants were all over it with 59% predicting the Pittsburgh Penguins win over the Washington Capitals Friday night.

After being shutout Friday night, the Capitals hope to score their 1st goal of the season tonight against the Flames.

- Brandon Rubeo & Kevin Allen

Today’s Lineup:

• Vladimir Tarasenko scores 1st as a Senator

• Frank Vatrano hat trick leads Ducks over Canes

• Auston Matthews scores 2nd consecutive hat trick

• And a lot more… 👇

Tarasenko Scores First in Senators’ Win

New ownership, a goalie change and some fresh faces in the lineup seems to have created an altered approach for the Ottawa Senators this season.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal for his new team, and goalie Joonas Korpisalo won his first game as the Senators swatted the Atlantic Division rival Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 Sunday. The Senators are now 2-1 on the young season.

Last month, Michael Andlauer paid $950 million for a franchise that has missed the playoffs for the past six seasons. It’s the highest sale price ever paid for an NHL franchise.

One reason why Andlauer paid that amount is that the Senators have a collection of younger talent that seem close to being ready to challenge in the Eastern Conference.

They will need more wins like Sunday’s triumph to be a factor in the Atlantic.

The Senators signed Tarasenko in July to a one-year contract for $5 million with the hope that he could help put a charge in the team’s offense. He has put up four points in three games.

Korpisalo received a five-year deal worth $4 million annually to stabilize the team’s goaltending. He has a career 3.01 goals-against average, but he did play impressively after the Columbus Blue Jackets traded him to the Los Angeles Kings last season.

But Tkachuk is still the key for Ottawa: he drives the bus. Tkachuk is the first player in Senators history to score multiple goals in each of the first two home games of a season.

🦆 Frank Vatrano scored a hat trick to lead Ducks to 6-3 win over Carolina. The 29-year-old winger scored a goal a period last night, including the game winner in the 2nd, and adding an empty-netter in the 3rd. Pavel Mintyukov scored his 1st NHL goal and Sam Carrick and Cam Fowler each scored to earn Drew Conin his first win as the Ducks’ head coach. Read more →

✌️ Auston Matthews scored his 2nd consecutive hat trick Saturday night vs. the Wild. Matthews scored twice in the opening period before burying a wraparound midway through the 3rd to cap off his 3-goal effort. The 26-year-old sniper is the fifth player in NHL history to open a season with back-to-back hat tricks, joining Alex Ovechkin (2017-18), Cy Denneny (1917-18), Joe Malone (1917-18) and Reg Noble (1917-18). Read more →

With 9 hat tricks, Auston Matthews is now tied for 5th most career hat tricks as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Who is the Toronto Maple Leafs all-time leader in hat tricks?

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Darryl Sittler holds the Toronto Maple Leafs all-time hat trick record with 18 career hat tricks.