Injured Senators surge to 5-1 start with win in New Jersey
The Ottawa Senators have won five of their first six games despite injuries to key players Jake Sanderson and William Eklund.
NEW JERSEY — The Ottawa Senators have won five of their first six games this NHL season, including a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
They have done it while dealing with injuries to key players, including defenceman Jake Sanderson, who has played fewer than five minutes this season after departing the season-opening win versus Toronto early.
Forward William Eklund, who is seen as the replacement for departed former captain Brady Tkachuk, is expected to miss an “extended” period of time with an ankle injury sustained on Thursday against the Flyers.
READ MORE: Senators defeat Devils 4-1 to continue hot start
READ MORE: Senators forward William Eklund out extended period with ankle injury
Goalie Linus Ullmark, who stopped 29 of 30 shots against the Devils, also left a win in Boston early last week with his own injury scare that turned out to be of minor consequence.
Tim Stutzle picked up his fifth goal of the campaign in the win over the Devils and with 10 points through six outings, there’s no doubt the German centre is the straw that stirs the Sens' offensive drink.
Ullmark, after finishing strong last season, has a league-best .948 save percentage.
New captain Thomas Chabot has four points while playing more ice time per game (27:14) than every player in the league save Columbus’s Zach Werenski (29:35).
Sanderson’s absence, naturally, is part of the reason Chabot is playing so much, not to mention the Sens' blue line has been missing another key figure all season in Artem Zub.
That’s allowed rookie Carter Yakemchuk to get a little run, and the seventh-overall pick from 2024 is showing he can hold his own in the world’s best league.
The Senators, who were the last NHL team to open their season on Oct. 3, have now played more games than all but five other clubs.
"The Sens have absorbed even more bumps and bruises to other players along the way without missing a beat, storming out to the kind of start that will serve them exceptionally well when we get to playoff crunch time in the extremely competitive Atlantic Division," according to Sportsnet.
They will now play five of their next six contests at home.
Around the NHL
The Seattle Kraken are averaging 4.33 goals per game, one of only three teams in the league putting up more than four goals per night, with the Oilers at five and Colorado leading the way at 5.20.
Seattle notched six goals in Detroit on Friday and five more in Washington on Sunday.
Frederick Gaudreau has four goals, with three coming against the Wings and Capitals.
New York Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere celebrated his 25th birthday by potting his fifth goal of the campaign on Saturday as the Rangers drubbed the Vancouver Canucks 6-2.
The Calgary Flames are 0-5-0, winless through five games for the first time in franchise history, and their minus-16 goal-differential at five-on-five is the worst in the league.
All 32 NHL teams are in action on Tuesday for the first of two "Frozen Frenzy" nights this season, beginning with a 6 p.m. ET matchup in Detroit between the Devils and Red Wings.
With files from Sportsnet