Stutzle Strikes Twice as Senators Spoil the Night, 4-1

By Soapz · Oct 6, 2026

Not every night is going to be pretty, B's fans, and Monday night at the Garden was definitely not pretty. Tim Stutzle scored twice in the first period, including a short-handed goal on a Bruins power play, and the Ottawa Senators built a 4-0 lead before the game was half over. James Hagens scored his second NHL goal early in the third to spoil the shutout, but the Bruins fell 4-1 and dropped to 2-2-0.

This was the first game all season where it really felt like the Bruins beat themselves. Turnovers, a power play that gave up more than it created and a slow start that put them in a hole they couldn't climb out of. Let's go through it, and then talk about what needs to change.

First period: two quick ones from Stutzle

Things looked good at the start. The Bruins drew an early power play when Warren Foegele was called for interference on Morgan Geekie at 7:19, and you thought maybe this was the night the power play finally got going. Instead, 20 seconds later, the Senators turned a Boston mistake into a 2-on-1 the other way, and Stutzle finished it off with a snap shot past Swayman, with Michael Amadio getting the assist. A short-handed goal against. Ouch.

It got worse almost immediately. The power play expired, and three seconds later Stutzle struck again, stealing the puck and beating Swayman on another snap shot at 9:22. Two goals in 1:43, and the Garden went quiet. That's the kind of sequence that takes the air out of a building, and it took the air out of the Bruins too.

Boston got another power play at 13:33 when Hayden Hodgson hooked Matthew Poitras, but nothing came of it. Then Hagens went off for slashing at 15:15, and seven seconds later Poitras was called for tripping, giving Ottawa a short 5-on-3. The penalty kill did a great job getting through that, which was about the only good news of the period.

Second period: the hole gets deeper

If the Bruins were hoping for a fresh start in the second, they didn't get it. Just 66 seconds in, Drake Batherson scored on a backhand after a Boston turnover, with Stutzle picking up his third point of the night. 3-0. Then at 5:19, Amadio made it 4-0 with a snap shot, set up by Shane Pinto and Nick Cousins. That one came after another failed breakout, and it was about as frustrating a goal as you'll see.

The rest of the period was a little better. Fraser Minten drew a penalty on Nikolas Matinpalo at 7:58, though Elias Lindholm went off four seconds later to wipe it out. JJ Peterka drew another one on Thomas Chabot at 15:36, but again, the power play couldn't do anything. Linus Ullmark, the former Bruin, stopped all 10 shots he faced over the first two periods, and the Bruins looked like a team that had run out of ideas.

Third period: a little something from Hagens

Samuel Ersson came in to play the third for Ottawa, and the Bruins finally got one past him. At 3:30, Hagens grabbed a loose puck around the net and banked it in for his second NHL goal, unassisted. It didn't change the result, but it was a nice reward for a rookie who kept pushing even with his team down four.

The Bruins pushed for more after that, but Ersson made the saves he needed to, and Ottawa was happy to sit back and protect the lead. With four seconds left, things got chippy in front of the Ottawa bench, and Nikita Zadorov, Tanner Jeannot and Cousins all picked up 10-minute misconducts. A frustrating end to a frustrating night.

What went wrong

Let's be honest. This one was about turnovers. Most of Ottawa's goals came off Bruins mistakes with the puck, whether it was a bad pass on the power play, a lost battle along the wall or a failed breakout. Against a team as fast and skilled as the Senators, you just can't give them free chances like that.

The power play didn't score again, and it gave up a short-handed goal that set the tone for the night. Through four games, the man advantage still hasn't found the back of the net, and it's starting to feel like a real problem. The Bruins had just 19 shots on goal, which tells you how little they generated.

Sway deserved better

Swayman gave up four goals on 24 shots, which looks bad on paper. But it's hard to blame him for much of this. The short-handed goal was a clean 2-on-1, and the others came off turnovers that left him out to dry. He made 20 saves and kept it from getting worse in the third. He'll want a couple back, but this loss is on the skaters in front of him.

A few positives

Jeannot threw six hits and Pastrnak threw five, so the effort was there physically. Frederic Brunet blocked three shots, and Casey Mittelstadt and Geekie each won two-thirds of their faceoffs. Hagens scored again, which means he has two goals in his first four NHL games. That's not nothing.

And remember, this is a long season. Two straight losses after two straight wins isn't a crisis. It's October. The important thing is to learn from a game like this and clean up the mistakes before they become habits.

Soapz's report card

James Hagens: B+. The only Bruin to score, and he did it by staying on the puck and making something happen. Two goals in his first four NHL games is a fantastic start for a kid his age.

Tanner Jeannot: B. Six hits and a lot of push in a game when not many Bruins were pushing back. He was one of the few guys who brought energy from start to finish.

Frederic Brunet: B. Three blocked shots in his NHL debut night with the big club. Not flashy, but steady, and that's a good sign for a young defenseman.

Jeremy Swayman: C+. Four goals against will never look good, but he was left out to dry on at least a couple of them. Not his best night, not his fault either.

The top of the lineup: D. Peterka, Elias Lindholm, Geekie, Pastrnak and Minten all finished minus-2, along with Hampus Lindholm on the back end. When your best players struggle that much, it's hard to win.

The power play: F. No goals and a short-handed goal against that turned the whole game. It's officially a problem.

What needs to change

The fix isn't complicated, but it does require discipline. The breakouts have to be cleaner, the first pass has to be simpler and the power play has to stop trying to make the perfect play. Ottawa is a fast team that lives off turnovers, and the Bruins handed them exactly what they wanted. Next time, put pucks deep, win the races, and make the other team go 200 feet. Do that, and nights like this become a lot rarer.

There's also a mental side to it. After the Stutzle goals, you could feel the Bruins pressing, trying to get it all back in one shift. That's when more mistakes happen. The best teams in this league stay calm when they fall behind, stick to their structure and trust that the chances will come. This group showed it can do that in Winnipeg. It just needs to do it every night.

Looking ahead: Utah on Thursday

The Bruins have a few days to regroup before the Utah Mammoth come to the Garden on Thursday. Utah has one of the most dangerous power plays in the league, so staying out of the box will be key, and Boston's own power play is running out of excuses. Things to watch: Does the power play finally score? Can the Bruins clean up the turnovers? And can Hagens make it three goals in five games?

Our takeaways

Turnovers kill. Ottawa scored off Boston mistakes again and again. The power play is a problem. No goals through four games and a short-handed goal against. Hagens keeps producing. Two NHL goals in four games. Stay calm. It's a long season, and this team has plenty of time to figure it out.

That's 2-2-0, B's fans. Let's bounce back on Thursday. 🐻

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