Senators Beat Devils 4-1: What Did We Learn?

Something encouraging is happening in Ottawa right now, and it goes beyond the standings. The Senators went into New Jersey on Monday night and came away with a 4-1 win over the Devils, their fifth victory in six games. Considering everything this team has been through, including a summer that saw captain Brady Tkachuk traded to Florida, that's a pretty good start to the season.

What I like about this win is that Ottawa is finding ways to get the job done despite missing some important players. That's not always easy this early in the season, when teams are still figuring out their line combinations and getting comfortable with new teammates. The Senators seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping things simple and playing with pace.

Shane Pinto and Stephen Halliday Step Up for the Senators.

The Senators got a big boost from Shane Pinto, who scored just nine seconds into the second period. Michael Amadio set him up on the rush, and Pinto finally got his first goal of the season. Sometimes a goal like that is about more than the goal itself. It gets a team moving, puts the opposition on its heels, and gives everyone a little more confidence.

Stephen Halliday added a power-play goal later in the period, taking advantage when New Jersey lost track of him in front of the net. Tim Stützle also had a goal and an assist, continuing to provide the kind of offensive production Ottawa needs from its top players.

The encouraging part is that the Senators aren't asking one or two players to do everything. They're getting contributions from different parts of the lineup, and that will matter as the season wears on.

Linus Ullmark Keeps Giving Ottawa the Goaltending It Needs.

Linus Ullmark stopped 29 of 30 shots, allowing only a late goal by Arseny Gritsyuk. That's the kind of steady performance that builds a team's confidence. Ottawa didn't need Ullmark to steal the game, but he was there when the Senators needed him.

And let's be honest, the blue-line situation isn't exactly ideal right now. Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub are already out, and Nikolas Matinpalo left Monday's game with an upper-body injury after being driven head-first into the boards. William Eklund is also expected to miss time.

That's a fair bit of adversity for any team to handle. Ottawa will need to keep an eye on those injuries, particularly on defence, where the available options are getting thinner.

What Senators Fans Learned.

The Senators are playing with confidence, scoring at key moments, and getting dependable goaltending. That's a pretty good recipe for winning hockey games. Six games don't tell us everything about a team, but five wins in that stretch suggest Ottawa is doing plenty of things right.

The real test will be whether the Senators can keep it going as the schedule gets tougher and injuries take their toll. For now, though, Ottawa fans have reason to feel good. This team is finding ways to win, and that's a promising place to start.