John Tavares started the night by actioning in front of an adoring crowd with a white 'C'-- potentially the most discussed piece of material in hockey-- stitched to his blue sweater.

Tavares presented as Leafs captain:

Tavares took the ice throughout the pre-game intros with a 'C' on his jersey for the first time in Toronto. 0:33

In a five-minute video launched by the team, the younger Tavares wore a miniature version of his papa's No. 91 jersey with and a 'C' on the left shoulder before head coach Mike Babcock presented him with the real thing.

9 things you need to understand about the upcoming NHL season ... in 90 seconds:

Need a refresher before the NHL season starts? Rob Pizzo has you covered. 1:50

Matthews quickly went to work just 34 seconds later, taking a slick feed from William Nylander on a 2-on-1 and beating Anderson.

Tkachuk was then whistled for goalie interference with simply over 5 minutes left in the duration, and Matthews made Ottawa pay by burying a one-timer over Anderson's shoulder off an excellent no-look Marner feed.

The crowd at Scotiabank Arena followed that laser by shouting Matthews' name the following shift. The leading pick in the 2016 NHL draft has had a rough stretch after news broke recently that he's dealing with a charge of disorderly conduct and disruptive behaviour originating from a supposed occurrence-- which he failed to divulge to the group-- in his hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., back in May.

Mikheyev put the video game out of reach at 9:43 of the 3rd when he got enough of a pass from Barrie to beat Anderson upstairs for his first in the NHL.

Ryan got an alleviation goal for Ottawa with 2:15 left in guideline, beating Andersen through the pads from the slot.

Matthews came close to getting his second-career hat technique late into an empty web, however could not quite find the variety in close before getting inspected to the ice.

"It was incredible," Tavares said after the game. Ilya Mikheyev, with an objective and a help in his NHL launching, Frederik Gauthier and Trevor Moore also scored for Toronto, which got 23 stops from Frederik Andersen. Matthews now has nine goals and 2 helps in the four season-opening games of his young career-- consisting of the four he bagged versus the Senators in his debut back in 2016."The guys worked hard for the many part," said Senators head coach D.J. Smith, an ex-Leafs assistant making his debut as an NHL bench employer. A local of neighboring Oakville, Ont., Tavares fills a captaincy that had been uninhabited since Dion Phaneuf was traded to the Senators in February 2016.