Linus Ullmark Stops 29 as Senators Beat Devils 4-1

Linus Ullmark was a wall in Newark. The Ottawa Senators goalie stopped 29 of 30 shots, Shane Pinto scored nine seconds into the second period, and Ottawa beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Monday night at Prudential Center.

The Senators are now 5-1-0, and they have scored first in five of their six games, per NHL.com game data. The Devils fell to 2-3-0 and have given up the first goal in all five games this season.

Ullmark carries a quiet night for the offense

New Jersey outshot Ottawa 30-20, per the official box score, and still could not solve Ullmark until it was way too late. He took a shutout deep into the third before Arseny Gritsyuk finally beat him at 14:59 with a hard snap shot to the top corner off the rush, set up by Jack Hughes.

The Devils thought they had one earlier. With 8:02 left in the third, Jesper Boqvist poked in a loose puck behind Ullmark, but the Senators challenged for goalie interference. On review, Ullmark had the puck covered in his pads when Cody Glass jammed it loose, so the goal came off the board, per NewJerseyDevils.com.

Pinto strikes in nine seconds

After a scoreless first, Pinto needed all of nine seconds of the second period to open the scoring, with Michael Amadio and Claude Giroux on the assists. It was his first goal of the season.

Stephen Halliday made it 2-0 on the power play at 8:40 of the second, with Tim Stützle and Dylan Cozens assisting. That goal was a long time coming. The Devils took five penalties, including a five-minute boarding major on Anthony Mantha in the first, and spent 13 minutes shorthanded, per NewJerseyDevils.com. New Jersey killed the first four, including the major, before Halliday finally broke through.

Stützle tipped in his fifth goal of the season at 11:10 of the third from Thomas Chabot and Jordan Spence to make it 3-0. After Gritsyuk's goal, Tyler Kleven sealed it with an empty-netter at 17:53. Stützle finished with a goal and an assist.

Back-to-backs for both

There is no time to celebrate. Ottawa hosts the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, and the Devils head to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Tuesday night to finish a back-to-back of their own.

For New Jersey, the to-do list is obvious. Stop falling behind early. For Ottawa, a 5-1-0 start with Ullmark playing like this has Sens fans dreaming big, and honestly, why not?