Michael Amadio's wizardry on both sides of puck helps Senators trounce Bruins

The winger scored in his second straight game to open the season, while Tim Stützle had three points and Linus Ullmark was solid again for Ottawa.

No Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, Ridly Greig and Andre Burakovsky? No problem for the Ottawa Senators.

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They put together a business-like performance against the Boston Bruins, winning 4-1 at TD Garden on Monday.

Tim Stützle had two goals and an assist, Michael Amadio had a goal and an assist, Drake Batherson scored and Linus Ullmark made 10 saves for Ottawa (2-0-0) before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury. Samuel Ersson made eight saves in the final frame.

No time to waste. Let’s get to grading.

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What Amadio was able to accomplish on the first penalty kill of the game alone was wild. In just 58 seconds of ice time while Warren Foegele sat in the box, Amadio had one block, one steal, one assist, and was a part of multiple 2-on-1s. And that assist was delicious. After saving Tyler Kleven’s butt following up on a botched clearing attempt, Amadio picked David Pastrnak’s pocket and raced down ice. Recognizing last-man-back Mason Lohrei hadn’t transitioned backwards and was fixated on the puck carrier, Amadio baited the defenceman into making the first move before sliding the puck out of reach to his backhand and over to Stützle, who was wide open for the 1-0 goal. As always, Amadio did so much more during the rest of his 15:44 of ice time — he even scored his second of the season! — but those initial shorthanded shifts were pure brilliance.

There’s a non-zero percent chance that Jeremy Swayman checks under his bed at night to ensure there are no Tim Stützles. That was superstar stuff from the German. Among many things, it’s encouraging to see him shooting more, second on the team with five shot attempts Monday. Stützle, who has played 12 career games against Swayman, scored his eighth and ninth NHL goals against the netminder. The first was an absolute snipe. On the second, how many players in the league can recover that quickly on a whiff in tight? One of his best plays of the night came early in the second frame, knocking down a James Hagens chip at the Ottawa blue line and turning to find Batherson streaking between the defence for the 3-0 breakaway goal. Süperstar stuff.

Batherson’s dangle on the aforementioned breakaway was slick, undressing Swayman while Elias Lindholm was on his tail. Batherson’s overall game was decent — he finished checks, skated well and was fine defensively — but he shone the most when he picked up the puck with a little momentum. He nearly set up Stützle for the hat trick in the third, tracking back to the neutral zone, rapidly regrouping, gaining the ‘O’ zone and flicking a backhand saucer pass between two Bruins to his centreman in the middle of the ice.

Foegele looked slightly more comfortable on the top line, but it still doesn’t seem like the right fit. And boy, could the fourth line ever use his two-way game right now. Nonetheless, he rang a wrister off the crossbar during a shorthanded rush in the second and finished plus-2 with two hits in 12:13. Foegele was a little unlucky to take an interference penalty on Morgan Geekie in the first — Connor Clifton had done much worse to Batherson on a chip-in during the previous shift.

Forward duos have been a frequent topic of conversation surrounding this team in recent weeks. Stutzle and Batherson. Pinto and Amadio. Well, after ironing out some things from Saturday in Toronto, Dylan Cozens and William Eklund looked like the Senators’ best duo at even strength, the chemistry building with each shift in the opening 40 minutes. They were difficult to handle on the cycle — Eklund using tight turns and a low centre of gravity to slip around defenders, while Cozens’ powerful stops and starts allowed him to create separation. Cozens had a team-high eight shot attempts, hitting one post off a whacky bounce from a stanchion in the first.

Still no points for Eklund through two regular-season games, but there’s absolutely nothing concerning about that. He had a knack for finding teammates in front against the Bruins, able to corral hard rims, break contain in ensuing board battles and get the puck to friendly sticks in dangerous areas. Cozens could’ve scored on a few; Fabian Zetterlund and Shane Pinto each looked to have tap-ins. Heading into his first season in Ottawa, there were questions — some raised by this writer, too — about Eklund’s toughness and ability to win 50-50 pucks. The Senators being one of the hardest working teams in the NHL, would a small winger from the San Jose Sharks fit in? Two games in, he has put those concerns to bed. Eklund is a certified grinder.

That’s more like it. Zetterlund has a lot to prove early this season if he’s going to be a top-six mainstay. He needs to add something tangible to the second line — he never did that on the top trio with Stützle last year. On Monday, Zetterlund really made the most of his 16:42 of ice time, throwing four hits, recording two shots and getting one steal. With his speed and core strength, he must become a bigger presence on the forecheck to afford Eklund and Cozens more puck touches with time and space. Against Boston, Zetterlund tracked down puck carriers enthusiastically, engaging with savvy pokechecks and smart contact, leading to numerous offensive-zone turnovers. This might work out after all.

Stützle and Amadio get the headlines, but Pinto was also a main reason the Sens went 4-for-4 of the penalty kill. He intercepted cross-ice passes, swiftly skated pucks north and was part of multiple shorthanded rushes, once feeding Foegele on a 2-on-1 in the second. And his behind-the-back pass to Amadio for the 4-0 marker was gross. Pinto hounded puck carriers all night, rarely allowed pucks to get behind him and had a team-high six hits in 17:56.

It was a quieter game for Giroux compared to Saturday, but he remained impactful. The last time we mention the kill amongst the forwards, Giroux also intercepted passes and was able to run out the clock. And he was 60 percent in face-offs.

Reunited with the shutdown line for a moment, Cousins picked up a secondary assist on Amadio’s goal. He was a wrecking ball again, throwing four hits and pest-ing it up. If he did it to any other player, perhaps Nikita Zadorov would get a fine or a short suspension for his ridiculous interference on Cousins with three seconds left in the game. There was also a sucker punch after the whistle with Cousins on the ice.

Hally fired up, Cous roasting Hagens, Zadorov looking like an ogre. Sens hockey.

Halliday had to know it would be difficult to get into a groove early on in the season. Playing 9:39 with most shifts on the fourth line and a couple opportunities sprinkled in alongside Eklund, Pinto, Zetterlund and Cozens, Halliday had his moments. With two Bruins converging on him below the goal line, he hit Eklund with spinning backhand pass in front. There were bright spots on defence, jumping on a loose puck in the corner and skating it the length of the ice past a couple opposing players to get it deep late in the third. Face-offs were always going to be a struggle — he was 3-for-8. Halliday got a bunch of bonus points for sticking up for Cousins at the end.

If you’re going to play five minutes a night, you can’t take penalties, and Hodgson got in trouble with a bad hold at the Ottawa blue line in the first. He still managed to record three hits, lighting up Mark Kastelic when things were starting to get out of hand in the second.

Chabot has never been one to throw crunchy hits, but he’s using his strength and 6-foot-2 frame right now to his advantage, stopping forwards in their tracks with sturdy little bumps and good body positioning. There’s no puck watching — he takes care of his guy, gathers the puck and sends it over to Jordan Spence in safety. Chabot’s 1-on-1 defending is elite at the moment, and his skating is as good as it’s ever been. It’s enabling him to keep a tight gap defending rushes and stick with forwards in the cycle.

Spence lost touch with Geekie as the Bruins forward drifted into the neutral zone in the first to ultimately receive a stretch pass and hit a post on a breakaway. Spence led all Ottawa blue liners with 24:49 of ice time, blocking two shots. He mostly had good poise with the puck in the defensive zone, navigating tightly contested areas with his skill and passing.

Kleven stamped out rushes and scoring chances with an active stick and was tenacious in D-zone board battles. The problems came with clears and stretch passes, a little too eager at times with whipping the puck up ice. He had two blocks and as plus-2 in 23:21. It’s odd to see him finish a game without a hit, but he could just be playing more cautiously while his partner, Carter Yakemchuk, gets comfortable.

There’s progression here. Yakemchuk has come a long way in a couple weeks. He is stronger on his stick in puck battles and has better escapability when pressured during the breakout. Each game he plays, there are fewer missed assignments. His foot speed is improved, doing well to backtrack when out of position. Yakemchuk drew a tripping penalty, and had one shot in 14:58.

While he lacks the confidence needed to make plays through the neutral zone, often opting for dumps when hitting the red line, Matinpalo can be competent with the puck. On Monday, he made crisp D-to-D passes and executed a couple of tricky first passes in his own end. He took a weak interference penalty in the second, but then went offside when joining a rush straight out of the box. Chabot was unimpressed. Those things happen with Matinpalo; he can be a whacky, unpredictable player. But damn it, does he ever work hard, using his excellent stride to get to loose pucks and fearlessly barreling into board battles. He was plus-2 in 24:13.

He was hard to notice out there, and that’s quite alright.

Ullmark flashed the leather on Geekie’s power-play one-timer in the first, then came out to challenge the Bruins forward on a broken play, making another big save in the second. Ullmark was taken out of the game ahead of the third, coach Travis Green confirming the goalie “kind of tweaked something a little bit,” in a collision with JJ Peterka in the middle frame.

Ersson definitely came into the game cold, wandering out of his crease to play the puck and coughing it up to Hagens for the 4-1 goal. He found a rhythm shortly after, making some breadbasket saves and later sliding over to stop a Lohrei one-timer. No harm done.

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