Tim Stutzle Turned Boston’s Power Play Into Ottawa’s Biggest Weapon
GOATIFYOttawa did not need a long feeling-out period to show why its 2-0 start matters. Tim Stutzle scored twice in 1:43 during the first period, added an assist in the second and drove a 4-1 road win over Boston that was built as much on pressure and transition as finishing.
The Senators' best sequence came while Boston was supposed to have the advantage. Michael Amadio intercepted a puck and fed Stutzle on a short-handed 2-on-1 for the opener. Three seconds after the same Bruins power play expired, Stutzle stole another pass, recovered after fanning on his first shot and finished again. Ottawa had turned Boston's power play into a two-goal swing.
Stutzle turned Boston’s power play into Ottawa’s attack
That first period was the clearest sign that Ottawa's early success is not only about its top-end skill. The Senators were aggressive without becoming reckless. Their penalty killers challenged possession, recognized loose passes and immediately attacked open ice when Boston's structure broke.
Stutzle was the perfect player to punish those mistakes. His first goal came from speed through transition; the second came from anticipation. He did not simply wait for a scoring chance to appear. He helped create the turnover, attacked before Boston could reset and forced Jeremy Swayman to defend a broken play.
The pattern continued after intermission. Stutzle intercepted James Hagens in neutral ice and released Drake Batherson for a breakaway 66 seconds into the second. Michael Amadio then finished a Shane Pinto feed to make it 4-0. Four goals, four sequences in which Ottawa either forced or immediately exploited a mistake.
Boston finished 0-for-4 on the power play and is now 0-for-10 to begin the season. Ottawa did not merely survive those minutes. It used them to dictate the game. That is a valuable identity for a team trying to turn consecutive playoff appearances into something more durable: defend with pressure, then let its speed convert defense into offense before opponents can organize.
Ullmark’s exit was the only complication in a controlled road win
The only complication came in Ottawa's crease. Linus Ullmark stopped every shot he faced through two periods against his former team, but a late second-period collision with J.J. Peterka left him slow to get up. Travis Green described the decision to remove him as precautionary after Ullmark had tweaked something.
That detail matters because Ottawa's opening two wins have already required resilience in important positions. Ullmark made 27 saves in the season-opening win over Toronto, then kept Boston scoreless before leaving. Samuel Ersson entered for the third period and allowed only James Hagens' bank-shot goal after a puck-handling mistake.
The encouraging part is that Ottawa did not unravel when the goaltending plan changed. The Senators already held a four-goal cushion, protected the middle well enough that Boston finished with only 19 shots, and closed out the road game without turning Ullmark's exit into a crisis.
It is too early to turn two wins into a season-long verdict, especially with Ullmark's status worth monitoring. But Ottawa has beaten Toronto and Boston on the road to open the schedule, and the second victory showed a repeatable formula: Stutzle creating offense, aggressive special teams, secondary scoring and enough structure to protect the crease.
Stutzle's three-point night will own the headline, and deservedly so. The bigger takeaway is how Ottawa created its advantage. The Senators scored from pressure, transition and depth rather than waiting for one star to manufacture four goals.
Now the immediate question is Ullmark. If his removal remains only precautionary, Ottawa leaves Boston with almost everything it wanted: another divisional road win, a dominant night from its offensive centerpiece and evidence that its structure can survive an unexpected change in goal. Two games do not establish a contender, but this is exactly how one wants to start.
