Tim Stutzle scored two first-period goals within a 1:43 span and added an assist, leading the visiting Ottawa Senators to a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Monday night.
Michael Amadio netted a goal and an assist, and Drake Batherson also scored for the Senators, who scored twice in each of the first two frames en route to their second straight win against an Atlantic Division opponent to begin the season.
Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark stopped all 10 shots he faced through the first two periods against his former team before Samuel Ersson entered in relief for an eight-save third.
James Hagens scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves for the Bruins, who have now split their first four games following back-to-back losses.
Ottawa had a 24-19 shot advantage. Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play.
Boston’s scoreless power play to start the campaign (now 0-for-10) was soured even more when Stutzle sparked the scoring on a short-handed 2-on-1 rush at 7:39. Amadio cut off the puck in the defensive zone and created the play with a backhand pass in transition, feeding Stutzle for a shot in the right circle.
Stutzle doubled the Ottawa lead three seconds after the same Warren Foegele interference penalty ended, intercepting a Hampus Lindholm pass and breaking the other way. After fanning on his initial shot, Stutzle played around Swayman’s outstretched stick and shot the puck into a virtually open net.
The hosts could not capitalize on a 5-on-3 kill late in the first and saw their deficit expand after intermission, with Batherson making it a three-goal game only 1:06 into the middle period. Stutzle intercepted Hagens at neutral ice sent Batherson down the slot to beat Swayman on the backhand.
Amadio upped the Ottawa lead to 4-0 at the 5:19 mark, slotting home a Shane Pinto feed after the latter misfired on a shot at the right crease and dropped a backhand pass across the crease for a one-time finish.
Ullmark stoned an open Morgan Geekie from the slot for his biggest stop with 5:39 left in the second, but Boston showed some jump and ended the combined shutout bid after Ersson entered.
Hagens got the Bruins on the scoreboard 3:30 into the third, speeding into the corner to retrieve a loose puck and bank it in off the goaltender from behind the end line.
