Senators beat Devils 4–1: Ullmark, timing and the shot-count paradox

Result — 12 October 2026, New Jersey: The Ottawa Senators beat the New Jersey Devils 4–1 at Prudential Center. Shane Pinto, Stephen Halliday, Tim Stützle and Tyler Kleven scored for Ottawa; Arseny Gritsyuk replied for New Jersey. Linus Ullmark stopped 29 of 30 shots. The official NHL box score confirms the result and shows an important qualification: the Devils outshot the winners 30–20, including 14–3 in the third period.

That contrast is the story of the night. Ottawa did not simply spend 60 minutes overwhelming New Jersey. It converted the moments when the game was most open, then relied on Ullmark and its work in front of him to protect the lead. A 4–1 score describes the outcome accurately; it does not describe a one-sided flow of chances throughout.

Nine seconds erased the Devils’ first-period work

New Jersey survived an eventful scoreless opening period, including a five-minute major against Anthony Mantha for boarding Nikolas Matinpalo. The Devils’ penalty kill kept Ottawa off the board during that stretch. Yet Pinto scored just nine seconds after the second period began, taking Michael Amadio’s pass and finishing from the slot. That sequence changed the value of the earlier resistance: surviving the major had given New Jersey a level game, but not a cushion against one lapse at the restart.

Halliday’s power-play goal at 8:40 made it 2–0. Brett Pesce lost his footing, leaving a lane for Stützle to find Halliday between the circles. The NHL’s play-by-play account identifies that specific opening. It would be too simple to reduce the goal to a single slip, though. Ottawa had five power-play opportunities and eventually used one; repeated time shorthanded also made it harder for the Devils to establish a steady attacking rhythm. New Jersey had scored three power-play goals against Vancouver two nights earlier, according to its official account of that win, but went 0-for-2 with the advantage here.

More shots were not enough

Stützle redirected Thomas Chabot’s shot at 11:10 of the third to stretch the lead to three. At that point New Jersey had to chase. The Devils did generate volume, but their own postgame account points to a problem with traffic in front of Ullmark and with getting inside Ottawa’s defensive shape. The 14–3 third-period shot count therefore needs context: it records territorial pressure, not 14 goalscoring chances of equal quality. Ullmark still had to make the saves, and his 29-stop performance should not be explained away by shot location alone.

There was also a narrow opening for a comeback. Jesper Boqvist appeared to score midway through the third, but Ottawa’s challenge overturned the goal for goaltender interference. Gritsyuk later beat Ullmark at 14:59, cutting it to 3–1. Kleven’s empty-net goal at 17:53 supplied the final margin. The overturned play and late goal show that the contest was not over when Stützle scored, even though Ottawa retained control of the scoreboard.

What this result actually says

Ottawa is 5–1–0 after a third straight win, with Stützle contributing a goal and an assist. That is a strong opening, especially with Ullmark unbeaten through his first five decisions. It is still six games, not proof of a settled season-long ranking. New Jersey, now 2–3–0, has a more immediate question: can it turn time in the offensive zone into screened shots and chances from the middle without gifting opponents so much special-teams time?

The useful lesson is narrower than “Ottawa dominated” or “New Jersey was unlucky.” Pinto’s fast start, Halliday’s conversion and Ullmark’s saves made Ottawa’s lead durable. The Devils’ shot advantage and late pressure show why the Senators cannot treat every 4–1 win as the same kind of performance. See the verified score and fixture details on our Senators–Devils match page. Our earlier Devils goaltending analysis concerns a separate season-preparation question, not a revision of this result.

Cover: “Ice hockey puck on ice 20180112” by Santeri Viinamäki, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Illustrative image; it does not depict the Senators, Devils or this game. Display cropping may occur.