Varone’s four-point night leads Senators in pre-season win over Leafs

HALIFAX — New Ottawa Senators coach Guy Boucher was not surprised by Phil Varone’s offensive outburst in a 6-3 pre-season win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Boucher, who coached SC Bern of the Swiss Elite League in 2014-15, said he had previously scouted Varone, an AHL journeyman, for his Swiss team two seasons ago.

Varone didn’t end up going to Switzerland, opting to sign with the Senators instead after parting ways with the Buffalo Sabres. He was originally drafted by San Jose in 2009.

“I watched him play on video because we were looking at him for my team in Switzerland,” Boucher said after Varone’s two-goal, two-assist performance. “He’s a kid that’s got a lot of heart, a lot of jam, and he’s poison. He’s one of those guys that will push you, split your D, and come out of nowhere to force himself inside those dots.”

Varone has played 43 NHL games in parts of three seasons with Buffalo and one game with the Senators last season.

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Logan Brown, Thomas Chabot, Matt Puempel and Casey Bailey, a former Leafs prospect, also scored for Ottawa in its first pre-season game.

Andrew Nielsen, Frank Corrado and Jake Gardiner replied for Toronto while Mitch Marner, a first-round pick in 2015 (fourth overall) and reigning CHL player of the year, had two assists.

“I just want to give the puck to Mitch as much as possible,” Corrado said. “He has so much speed, so much skill, and he’s such a smart player.”

Marner, who at 19 can not play in the AHL this season, has already done as much as he can do at the junior level with the OHL’s London Knights. Now he’s trying to prove he’s good enough for the NHL.

“I’m just going to take it day by day and make sure when I’m in the game or in practice, I’m just out there to get better,” said Marner. “The important thing for me is to make sure I’m consistent every night.”

Varone scored his first goal just 50 seconds into the game when the Ottawa centre capitalized on a juicy rebound that Antoine Bibeau kicked out into the slot.

A minute later, Ottawa made it 2-0 when Brown, the Senators’ first-round pick in the June draft, banged home a loose puck from a goalmouth scramble.

Halifax fans gave Marner a standing ovation midway through the second after he made a rush to create a scoring chance for Brooks Laich. Later on in the same shift, Marner made a great pass to set up Nazem Kadri at the doorstep.

Chabot gave Ottawa a 3-2 lead later in the second but Gardiner replied just 13 seconds later to tie the game. Varone added his second goal at 17:14 to give Ottawa the lead for good.

Kasimir Kaskisuo came in to start the third period after Bibeau allowed four goals on just 15 shots through the first two periods.

Varone added two assists in the third as Ottawa put the game away. He set up Puempel for a short-handed goal at 11:47 of the third and then fed Bailey, who made it 6-3 with 5:40 left in the game.

Hammond stopped 20 of 22 shots before giving way to Chris Driedger midway through the second period.

NOTES: Several hundred fans missed the start of the game because of additional security measures at the arena. The Leafs have been in Halifax holding the first three days of training camp. Fans gave former Leafs captain Wendel Clark a standing ovation during a third-period interview played on the scoreboard. … Attendance was 9,377. … The Leafs outshot the Senators 35-21.

Ryan Van Horne , The Canadian Press