Tim Stützle had a goal and an assist, Shane Pinto and Stephen Halliday scored and the Ottawa Senators defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Monday night to keep their hot start going.
Linus Ullmark stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced, allowing just a goal to Devils forward Arseny Gritsyuk with five minutes left.
After a tumultuous summer that included trading captain Brady Tkachuk to Florida, the Senators have won five of their first six games, despite missing a handful of key players to injuries.
Ottawa's depth took another hit when defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo was injured in the first period. Matinpalo went head first into the boards when he was boarded by New Jersey’s Anthony Mantha.
Matinpalo received medical attention and did not return, ruled out with what the team called an upper-body injury.
Ottawa was already thin on the blue line with Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub sidelined. And forward William Eklund is out for what coach Travis Green estimated to be an extended period of time because of an injured left ankle.
Green’s team has made up for those absences with timely scoring and fast-paced play.
9 seconds into the second period, Pinto scored his first goal of the season, beating New Jersey netminder Nico Daws (16 saves) off the rush following a pass from Michael Amadio.
Halliday scored on the power play midway through the second when he was left open in front by Brett Pesce losing his footing.
That was the Senators finally taking advantage of the Devils parading to the penalty box after failing to score on Mantha’s 5-minute major earlier.
Devils fans booed as the clock ran out before the second intermission, on the way to the home team falling to 2-3-0 while struggling to incorporate a handful of new faces into the lineup.
Up next
Senators: Host St. Louis on Tuesday.
Devils: Visit Detroit on Tuesday.