Breaking: Tavares scores his first goal as a Leaf!

It is the preseason, but it sure is a great sign for things to come for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans. On Tuesday night, the Maple Leafs were facing the Ottawa Senators in their first exhibition game of the year, and let's just say that new star forward John Tavares did not waste time to impress his new fan base. 

Tavares scored his first preseason goal for the Maple Leafs at 5:12 into the first period, on the power-play, against the Senators, tying things up for his new team. Moments later, it appeared to have motivated his teammates as Toronto took the lead 2-1 as Andreas Borgman tallied the goal. Borgman deflected a pass behind goalie Mike Condon and gave Toronto the lead in the game. 

Tavares' goal also turns out to be the first tally of the Toronto Maple Leafs this year. 

Ryan Dzingel scored 21 seconds into the game for Ottawa.

The game takes place at Lucan Community Memorial Centre for Kraft Hockeyville Canada. As a former London Knights star, Tavares was a crowd favourite in the small community and we bet this goal made it even more special for Tavares, the Leafs and the local crowd. Lucan beat out three other communities across Canada for the honour, which included $250,000 in upgrades to the local arena and the right to host a preseason NHL game. Lucan Biddulph Township, about 16 miles north-west of London, with a population of 4,700, won the Kraft Hockeyville social media vote last year against three other Canadian towns for its 1,600-seat arena to host a game, Tuesday night with the Leafs and Sens. 

So, one in one so far for the new Toronto Maple Leaf and his lucrative contract.

Before the game, Tavares admitted to TSN's Kristen Shilton that he was nervous ahead of his first game with his new team. 

“Any time I play, there are always jitters. That’s a feeling you have as a hockey player from the time you’re a kid until now,” Tavares said. “The first game of the year is always that same kind of butterfly excitement and getting ready to be in that mindset again, that mentality you get into. When you haven’t played in a while, it’s very fresh.”

UPDATE: In the third period, Tavares scored his second tally of the game, his second with the Maple Leafs and brought the score to 3-1 for Toronto. 

Mitch Marner tallied another goal for the Maple Leafs to push the score 4-1 over the Senators, with the help of course, from Tavares. It was the final score for the game in Lucan.