John Tavares buried his first two goals with the Maple Leafs and added an assist as Toronto defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in the opener of the NHL exhibition schedule for both clubs.
Mitch Marner chipped in with a goal and two assists for the Leafs, while Andreas Borgman also scored. Ryan Dzingel replied for the Senators, who held a 35-30 edge in shots.
The game was played at the intimate Lucan Community Memorial Centre as part of the Kraft Hockeyville event in this town of 4,700 a community 25 kilometres outside of London.
The Senators grabbed a 1-0 lead 21 seconds into the game when Dzingel took a pass from Matt Duchene to beat Leafs goalie Curtis McElhinney.
The same clubs meet again tonight in Ottawa.