3 takeaways from Senators' 6-3 win against Bruins

Boston Bruins v Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins v Ottawa Senators | Minas Panagiotakis/GettyImages

After sweeping their back-to-back against the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers, the Ottawa Senators would then meet the Boston Bruins for the fourth and final time this season.

All three previous games against the Bruins were tough battles, but the Senators dropped their last game against the Bruins 2-0 on Jan. 23. In the final meeting, the Senators' offense was too much to handle.

The Senators defeated the Bruins 6-3 at Canadian Tire Centre to extend their winning streak to five consecutive games. With the win, the Senators improved to 35-25-5 on the season and have 75 points on the season. The Senators have now earned 13 of a possible 14 points in March.

In another game the Senators needed to have, the Senators got and completed the season series win against the Bruins. At the end of the game, Sens fans had chants of "we want playoffs."

3. The wait ended for one

Nikolas Matinpalo has struggled to get full-time play in the NHL. Even with not much playing time, Matinpalo got good experience playing with and against the best players when he represented Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off. In his 30th career NHL game against the Bruins, Matinpalo got a monkey off his back.

With the Senators up 1-0 in the first period, Tyler Kleven scored a goal to extend the lead to 2-0 and Matinpalo recorded the primary assist on the goal. With Matinpalo recording an assist on Kleven's goal, Matinpalo recorded his first career NHL point.

There's never a wrong time to record your first NHL point. For Matinpalo, it'd happened in his 30th NHL game at 26 years old.

2. Offensive depth coming through

One thing that has helped the Senators in March is the depth on the roster having the ability to produce offense. Against the Bruins, the depth came through.

Shane Pinto and Kleven, who both scored a goal on Tuesday against the Flyers, scored again for the second consecutive game. Pinto's opening goal of the game was his 16th goal of the season.

After the Bruins cut the Senators lead to 2-1 in the first period, Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig each scored a goal in a 22-second span. Batherson added his second goal of the game in the second period and finished with a three-point game.

Greig and Pinto each recorded a two-point game. Eleven different Senators recorded at least one point in the win, including Dylan Cozens who now has recorded one point in each of his first four games as a Senator since being traded over by the Buffalo Sabres.

1. Save of the year!

When Linus Ullmark is on, he's one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. After a rough February when he returned from injury, March has been a solid month for Ullmark. In six starts in March, Ullmark is now 5-0-1.

Ullmark's play in March has helped the Senators be in playoff contention. Ullmark made 48 saves last game against the Red Wings to help the Senators earn a key win. Against the Bruins, one play stood out above all.

With the Senators leading 5-3 late in the second period, Ullmark made an incredible diving glove save on Boston's Mason Lohrei to keep the Senators' two goal lead intact. The save by Ullmark is worthy of being save of the 2024-25 season.

Ullmark finished with 22 saves to earn his 17th win of the season. In his two starts against his old team this season after being traded over in June 2024, Ullmark won both starts against the Bruins.

The Senators will return to action on Saturday night in the final Battle of Ontario meeting against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Puck drop for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The Senators will be looking for the season series sweep against the Maple Leafs. The Senators have outscored the Maple Leafs 5-1 this season in the two meetings prior.

Schedule