Stutzle has goal, assist, Senators defeat Devils for third straight win

NEWARK, N.J. -- Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist for the Ottawa Senators in their third straight win, 4-1 against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Monday.

Linus Ullmark made 29 saves. for the Senators (5-1-0), who reached five wins in six or fewer games for the third time in franchise history after previously doing so in 2005-06 (5-0-0) and 2007-08 (5-0-0). 

"I think we're playing good hockey," Stutzle said. "They have some good players over there, a lot of skill, and they're going to make plays. I felt like we did a pretty good job for the first 40 minutes. I think our third period could have been a little bit better (when New Jersey held a 14-3 shot advantage), but we found a way to win a big game again and Ullmark was great."

Arseny Gritsyuk scored, and Nico Daws made 16 saves for the Devils (2-3-0).

Shane Pinto gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead nine seconds into the second period on a wrist shot from the slot, converting Michael Amadio's centering pass from the left face-off circle.

"Right from the drop of the puck, our brains weren't switched on to start the period," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It was pretty disappointing because we battled so hard to get through that first period, to battle through (nine minutes of penalty time). You want to capitalize on that and to start like that with some of our most experienced people on the ice is unacceptable."

Stephen Halliday pushed it to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 8:40 of the second. Devils defenseman Brett Pesce hit an edge and fell, opening a lane for Stutzle to find an uncovered Halliday between the circles.

Stutzle's assist was the 265th of his NHL career, tying Christian Ehrhoff for the third-most by a German-born player in NHL history behind Leon Draisaitl (625) and Jochen Hecht (277).

"It's not about one guy in the room; it's about everyone," Stutzle said. "Obviously, it's awesome for me. There are a lot of great German players out there, but I just keep trying to do my thing, play for my team, and string some wins together."

Stutzle made it 3-0 at 11:10 of the third period when he deflected a shot from the slot past Daws. Thomas Chabot took the initial shot from the point.

"We're working really hard together, playing for each other, and you can see the vibe in the room," Stutzle said. "It's not too high or not too low. We just keep building every game, get better every day, and go from there."

The Devils appeared to pull within 3-1 at 11:58 of the third when Jesper Boqvist scored, but the Senators successfully challenged the play for goaltender interference.

Gritsyuk did cut it to 3-1 at 14:59 with a wrist shot between the circles.

"We're getting free ice on the outside and I think at times settle for the play on the outside," New Jersey forward Jesper Bratt said. "They protect the middle pretty well and we didn't funnel enough pucks into those areas with guys there. A lot of times we were shooting from the outside and didn't have enough guys (on the inside)."

Keefe said, "We've got to learn how to score when it's hard and that's the reality of it, so we've got to stay with it."

Tyler Kleven scored an empty-net goal at 17:53 for the 4-1 final.

"It's a pretty focused group, pretty determined group, and we've never been a team to talk about injuries or let it deter what we're all about," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "Give the guys credit, they've played well to find a way to get off to a pretty good start."

NOTES: Ottawa defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo will be reevaluated on Tuesday after he sustained an upper-body injury after being hit head-first into the boards by Devils forward Anthony Mantha, who was assessed a five-minute major for boarding on the play. ... Green said that defensemen Jake Sanderson (undisclosed injury) and Artem Zub (knee) are close to returning but not expected to play against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. ... Ullmark (5-0-0) is the third goaltender in Senators history to win his first five or more games of a season, joining Ray Emery (six games in 2005-06) and Dominik Hasek (five games in 2005-06). ... Stutzle has a point in each of his first four road games to start the season. Draisaitl is the only German player who has recorded a longer such point streak (twice, eight games in 2022-23 and six in 2020-21). ... Devils forward Jack Hughes extended his point streak to three games (four assists). ... New Jersey placed forward Connor Brown on injured reserve retroactive to Sept. 28 earlier Monday. He could make his season debut later this week.