Ice Breaker: Bobrovsky wins in blue, and Ontario gets five fights

Four preseason games on a Wednesday, and the one Panthers fans will care about didn't involve the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky played all 60 minutes for Toronto, stopped 13 of 14, and won. The Battle of Ontario doubleheader also produced five fights, which tells you how both rooms feel about September.

The games

Maple Leafs 6, Senators 1

Tim Stützle scored first for Ottawa at 6:35. Toronto then scored six straight, and John Tavares, Jack Roslovic and Auston Matthews each finished with a goal and two assists. The league gave them the three stars in that order.

Bobrovsky faced 14 shots all night. Leevi Meriläinen took the loss for Ottawa after allowing six on 27 before Parsons came on and stopped all nine he saw.

Sully's chirp: Two Cups in Sunrise, and now he's wearing the blue and white. I'm not mad, I'm just saying 14 shots is a practice, not a game. The Leafs still owe him a real test, and it won't be in September.

Maple Leafs 4, Senators 2

The other half of the Leafs' camp won in Ottawa. Hayden Rybinski scored on the power play, Steven Lorentz and Ryan Tverberg scored in the third, and Teddy Blueger hit the empty net with eight seconds left. Dylan Cozens and Hoyt Stanley scored for Ottawa.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 19 of 21. Linus Ullmark stopped 20 of 23, and there were four fights in this one alone. Landon Sim went twice, once in the first and once in the third.

Lind's read: Toronto won both halves of a split squad, and that says the depth chart runs deeper than it did a year ago. Ullmark at .870 in September is a sample, not a signal.

Stars 2, Wild 0

Matthew Seminoff fought Carson Lambos early in the second, then scored at 15:33 of the same period. Esa Lindell added the insurance in the third, and Kyle Capobianco assisted on both.

Remi Poirier started because Jake Oettinger had lower-body tightness after the morning skate, and Glen Gulutzan said the Stars "weren't going to take a chance." Poirier stopped all 24 shots and took first star. Dallas is 4-0 in the preseason.

Sully's chirp: Seminoff played 11:13, fought a guy and scored the winner in the same period. Give that man a sweater and a raise. Fine, just the sweater.

Kings 2, Ducks 1

Ethan Procyszyn opened the scoring for Anaheim at 8:41 of the first. Los Angeles answered with two in the last 64 seconds of the period, from Alex Laferriere and Joel Armia, and then nobody scored again.

Anton Forsberg stopped 24 of 25 for the win. Lukas Dostal took the loss, and the Ducks outshot the Kings 25-19.

Lind's read: Anaheim outshot Los Angeles and took two of the three stars, and still lost. That's a goaltending result, and 64 seconds of offense isn't a plan the Kings can repeat.

Three stars of the night

First star: John Tavares, Toronto, a goal and two assists in the 6-1 win, the league's first star.

Second star: Remi Poirier, Dallas, 24 saves on 24 for the shutout.

Third star: Matthew Seminoff, Dallas, a fight and the winning goal in the same period. Our pick, not the league's.

Lind's number of the night

$7 million. That's Bobrovsky's cap hit in Toronto, a three-year, $21 million deal per TSN's Mark Masters, for a 38-year-old who posted an .877 save percentage last season. The Leafs are paying for the two Cups in Florida. The first 60 minutes looked fine, but 14 shots won't tell you whether the term does.

Sully's take of the morning

Look, five fights in one Battle of Ontario doubleheader is the most honest thing the preseason has produced. Zack MacEwen and Hayden Hodgson went in Toronto, and then the Ottawa game turned into a tryout for the penalty box.

Fight of the night goes to Landon Sim, who went with Matthew Andonovski in the first and Nick Cousins in the third. Answering the bell twice in September is how a guy earns a sweater. Sim gets an A. The Senators' goaltending across both buildings gets a C, and that's me being kind.

Gord's whisper

The Marchenko-to-Montreal talk is back. Darren Dreger said on TSN 1050, as relayed by The Hockey News, that the Habs showed interest this summer but the price is "expensive." Grade: Rumbling. Our full read on the file is here: /post/marchenko-file-montreal-rumor-12-million-problem-2026-09-23.

Tonight

Eleven games, and the Panthers are one of them. Florida visits Tampa Bay at 7 p.m. ET at Benchmark International Arena, on Scripps and The Spot. It's the first of two against the Lightning in three days, so the preview lands this afternoon.

New Jersey at the Rangers is on NHL Network at 7. The late one to watch is Edmonton at Vancouver at 9, and Utah at Vegas is on NHL Network at 10.