How did the Swedish forward give the OHL team some hope while it suffered one of their darkest losses ever to Sarnia Sting?

The Ottawa 67’s unexpectedly suffered one of the most lopsided defeats in their 59-year franchise history on Sunday, but a silver lining emerged from the dark cloud hovering over TD Place.

Swedish centre Filip Ekberg accounted for all of Ottawa’s scoring in the home-opening 10-3 loss to the Sarnia Sting and could have netted at least five.

What looked to be the second of the afternoon for the 19-year-old Carolina Hurricanes prospect occurred near the nine-minute mark, but it was ruled an offside play after an agonizingly long review by the officials.

And in the third period, with the outcome still in doubt and two goals already in his pocket, Ekberg elected to attempt a pass off a 3-on-1 rush with winger Spencer Bowes and defenceman Kaleb Dietsch when he had an open lane and a hot hand.

“I always try to pass it first,” Ekberg said. “Maybe I should have shot, but I think three-against-one, you should always try to pass it when you have the opportunity. I tried to do a no-look pass … it was just a bad decision.”

Ekberg’s nicest goal was his second, near the six-minute mark of the middle period.

After intercepting a pass in the neutral zone, he crossed the Sarnia blue line, made a quick move to get around a defender, then fired a shot that went off the back bar and post so quickly it seemed like another replay review might be needed.

“It was going good, actually,” he said of his shot on that day and the suggestion that he could have had two hat tricks instead of one. “But it doesn’t matter. We lost 10-3.”

It wasn’t the largest margin of defeat in their history — they lost their first-ever game by a score of 9-0 in Niagara Falls, back on Oct. 6, 1967 — and they also fell 10-3 to London on Dec. 1, 2024, as the Knights extended their winning streak to 18 games.

It also wasn’t quite as bad as the final score indicates.

Ottawa entered the third period trailing 4-2 and coach Dave Cameron yanked Jaeden Nelson after his No. 1 goalie gave up his fifth goal on 26 shots at the 3:24 mark.

Making his first OHL appearance, rookie backup Noah LeGamaeden Nelson surrendered five goals on 13 shots the rest of the way.

It was nonetheless a surprising outcome as the Sting (3-1-0) started a weekend trip by losing 7-4 in Peterborough on Thursday, then defeated Kingston 5-3 on Friday, while the 67’s (1-1-1) were coming off a 6-3 victory in Peterborough on Saturday after opening the season with a 3-2 overtime loss in Kingston last weekend.

It was also an uncharacteristic result for an Ottawa team that last season allowed a league-low 160 goals and a terrible showing in front of 2,481 fans (the crowd looked larger) for a home opener.

“There was a little bit bad luck, but I don’t think we came up as good as we could be,” Ekberg said. “The bounces didn’t bounce with us, but we have to be better.”

The 67’s were playing their second game in less than 24 hours, and they didn’t get to their beds, following a 3-hour bus ride, until after 2 a.m., while the Sting had Saturday off and was in Ottawa waiting for them.

Sunday’s game was a 3 p.m. start.

“Of course it’s tough, but everyone has those games,” Ekberg said. “You just have to do what you can to play well.”

A seventh-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2025, he spent much of the summer training with his agent, former NHLer Michael Nylander.

He also attended the Hurricanes camp and played in a pre-season game against Florida that included many of the Panthers regulars.

Asked what part of his game he worked on most, Ekberg said: “Just my skating, and my confidence. I practised with some good players and it built my confidence.”

He also learned what it takes to make the step into pro when playing eight minutes in an exhibition win over a Panthers team that featured Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.

“It was cool,” Ekberg said. “That could be the best team I’m ever going to play, so now you know what good level you need to be on.”

He also had some guidance from Swedish players on the Hurricanes who took him under their wing.

“I also learned just how pro everyone is,” Ekberg said. “All the stuff, what food you should get in you, and that you just need to do everything at 110% all the time, when you’re on the ice and off the ice as well.”

They’re facing another ridiculous part of the schedule, in Oshawa to face the Generals (3-2-0) on Friday, then returning home to host the Erie Otters on Saturday at 3 p.m.

After that, they play four road games (Niagara, Erie, Brantford, and Brampton) before playing their next game at TD Place on Oct. 17 against the Generals.

The 67’s will be leaning on guys like Ekberg — who had 16 goals and 45 points in 53 games as a rookie and 24 goals and 46 points in 59 games last season — to take another step forward and get them through the tough part of the schedule.