Ottawa Senators' sizzling start continues, but Matinpalo injury tempers win over New Jersey Devils

There is no stopping the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators continued their impressive start to the National Hockey League season with their fifth win in six games, earning a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night at the Prudential Center.

Ottawa extended its record to 5-1-0 with the win over the Devils, which matched the club’s best start since 2007-08. Tyler Kleven, Tim Stutzle, Stephen Halliday and Shane Pinto scored for the Senators.

“It’s great. We’re playing good hockey,” Stutzle told the club’s website after the game. “I felt like we did a good job for the first 40 minutes. Our third could have been a little bit better. It’s a fun way to win a big game again.”

But the victory didn’t come without a price. Defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo became the latest player to join the club’s lengthy injury list when he left the game with an upper-body ailment, which would appear to be a head injury.

“It’s pretty obvious what the injury is. We’ll have to wait and see how he is tomorrow,” coach Travis Green said.

Linus Ullmark had a strong effort in the net with 29 stops. He had his bid for a shutout ended in the third period when Arseny Gritsyuk scored with 5:01 left and only moments after the Devils had a goal called back.

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe knew the challenge would be difficult.

“This is going to be next-level checking,” Keefe said before the game. “This is one of the best checking teams in the NHL.”

But the Senators had to withstand a huge third-period push until Stutzle tipped a shot from Thomas Chabot home at 11:10 of the third. Stutzle had a two-point effort and has 10 points in six games. Kleven put it away into an empty net.

“It’s a great start to the year,” Pinto said. “Linus is playing great, but we found a way to win. We hope we can keep it going.”

The Senators’ defence took another hit.

Matinpalo, who has been steady with the injuries on defence, left at 9:59 of the first after taking a hit into the boards from Anthony Mantha of the Devils.

Mantha was given a five-minute major for boarding, but it was surprising he stayed in the game.

That left the club with five defencemen for the final 50 minutes. The expectation is that Jorian Donovan will suit up against the Blues on Tuesday if Artem Zub isn’t ready to make his season debut.

Thomas Chabot played more than 27 minutes in this one.

There were no changes on the blue line heading into this game.

The club has been without its top pairing to start the season. Zub missed his sixth straight game, and Jake Sanderson hasn’t played since he left the opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 3.

While Sanderson remains out indefinitely, Zub is closing in on a return from a knee injury he suffered in Round 1 of the playoffs. The sense is that Zub will play this week, but there was no timetable on Monday.

The club also placed Belleville callup Cam Crotty on injured reserve, but he isn’t eligible to play until Thursday.

The Senators were ahead 2-0 after 40 minutes, and Ullmark was solid with 16 stops.

“That was a hard-fought win,” Green said. “I really liked our first two periods. I thought we checked well and played a solid, 200-foot game. They’re a good, offensive team, but we stood tall in the third and found a way.”

Ullmark made his fifth start in the club’s first six games and moved his record to 5-0-0 to start the year. Ullmark came into this game with a 13-5-0 career record against the Devils, along with a .928 save percentage and a 2.25 GAA.

“We’ve got to take it one day at a time,” said Ullmark.

The Senators went 0-for-4 on the power play until Halliday scored his first of the season to give the club a 2-0 lead at 8:40 of the second.

He took advantage of New Jersey defenceman Brett Pesce blowing a tire, which allowed Halliday to end up in alone, and he buried it past Nico Daws on the glove side.

The Devils are the NHL’s only team that has yet to open the scoring this season. The Senators took a 1-0 lead only nine seconds into the second period after a scoreless first.

Pinto scored his first of the season. Off the opening faceoff to start the second, he one-timed a pass past Daws on the glove side. It was the third-fastest goal from the start of a period in franchise history.

“It would have been embarrassing to not finish that,” Pinto said.

The Senators outshot the Devils 7-4 in the first, and space was hard to come by for both teams.

It looked like the Devils were trying to send a message physically in the first period. Not only did Matinpalo take a hard, dangerous hit from Mantha, but New Jersey defenceman Brendan Dillon was also running around.

The Senators’ power play has struggled mightily early in the season, and it did so early in this game as well. The club had a five-minute power play in the first period and came up empty.

The club had nearly eight minutes with the man advantage in the first and managed only two shots.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com