The Senators found a way to win, and that's all that matters.

The Ottawa Senators’ home opener wasn’t a masterpiece, but Carter Yakemchuk ended the night in style.

The Senators’ rookie defenceman sent the sellout crowd of 17,501 at the Canadian Tire Centre faithful into a frenzy by firing home the third-period winner in a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

The 21-year-old Yakemchuk helped the club’s struggling power play at just the right time by beating Flyers goaltender Joseph Woll with a blast from the point with 6:59 left in the third period to secure the club’s third win in four games to start the season.

Yakemchuk doesn’t show a lot of emotion, but he did on that one.

“I was excited. We battled hard all game. To finally get one on the power play felt really good,” said Yakemchuk.

This was a tough night in a lot of ways for the Senators. They weren’t at their best, and the lineup took another huge hit.

The Senators finished the game with only 11 forwards. Winger William Eklund, the club’s biggest off-season acquisition, left in the first period with a leg or ankle injury and didn’t return.

Coach Travis Green had no update on Eklund’s status.

For the second straight game, the Senators didn’t have any consistency in their game. Woll wasn’t tested nearly enough, but the Senators found a way to win, and that’s all that matters.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Green said. “It was one of those games early in the year where it felt like there was a lot of intensity. It was just a greasy, greasy game, and we wanted to win that.”

The Senators went eight minutes without a shot in the second period and generated little pressure on the Flyers. Ottawa was fortunate that goaltender Linus Ullmark was at the top of his game.

Ottawa paid the price for letting the Flyers hang around. While Ullmark had been solid, Matvei Michkov tied the game 1-1 at 7:46 of the second period when a puck slipped through Ullmark.

Referee Chris Rooney initially blew the play dead with a quick whistle, but after a review, the goal stood. The Senators had nobody to blame but themselves because they allowed the Flyers to stay in the game.

The Senators had four consecutive power plays in the first period, but led only 1-0 after 20 minutes and were outshot 11-8.

Ottawa struggled to generate much with the man advantage, including getting shots through traffic. The club is 2-for-17 on the power play this season, and that needs to improve.

Nick Cousins’ first goal of the season came just as Ottawa’s first power play expired. He redirected a point shot by Tyler Kleven at 10:14 to open the scoring.

“We talked after both the first, and second period, that there wasn’t a lot of space out there,” said Green. “We just had to find a way to score one. Philly’s got a good team. They didn’t just make the playoffs by fluke last year.”

The Senators took another hit with the loss of Eklund in the first period.

He appeared to catch his left leg or ankle in a rut while racing for a puck in the corner of Philadelphia’s zone before being hit by Simon Benoit.

Eklund writhed in pain and had to be helped off the ice without putting any weight on his left leg.

Losing Eklund is a significant blow.

“You never want to see a teammate go down like that. He’s been playing great for us,” Cousins told TSN during the first intermission. “It’s super sad to see. Guys are going to have to step up collectively to fill his shoes.”

The club is already without top defencemen Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub. Rookie blueliner Hoyt Stanley was recalled Thursday morning and made his NHL debut.

He took his rookie lap before the game and replaced Cameron Crotty, who was under the weather. Stanley got the call in Belleville at noon, grabbed a meal of chicken, carrots and potatoes from the nearby Metro Grocery store and made the trip to Ottawa.

“It was pretty wild,” Stanley said. “Definitely, a dream come true. I was nervous the first two shifts and the coach just told me to play my game.”

Stanley, 21, who spent three years at Cornell University, was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL draft and had a strong training camp.

It looks like Ottawa’s forward depth will be put to the test as well.

This was the 34th home opener in franchise history.

The Senators entered with a 19-9-3-2 record in home openers. The club had won four of its previous five home openers, but this was only the second time in franchise history Ottawa had faced the Flyers in one.

Thomas Chabot, the longest-serving member of the Senators, skated in front of the hometown crowd for the first time with the captain’s “C” on his jersey and received a warm welcome.

Fans chanted, “Chabby, Chabby.” He was touched by the welcome back in his new role.”

“It was awesome. A little overwhelming. I’m not gonna lie. It’s always special. This is my 10th season here, and these fans supported us through the the worst days a couple years ago, through the good days now,” said Chabot. “They show support to every single guy on the team, and a little bit extra special for me tonight.

“A pleasant surprise, I’d say. You know they’re going to cheer. You know it’s going to come, but no, I didn’t really have too many expectations.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com