The top goalie spent the third period watching from the bench

The Ottawa Senators delivered a statement victory on Monday night.

Whether it was worth the cost depends on the condition of top goaltender Linus Ullmark.

The Senators served notice to the rest of the Eastern Conference that they’ll be a force to be reckoned with this season, marching into TD Garden and dismantling the Boston Bruins 4-1.

While Ullmark spent the third period watching from the bench, there was cause for concern when he left the net in favour of backup Samuel Ersson after making 10 stops in 40 minutes.

Coach Travis Green told reporters in Boston that the club’s medical staff felt it was best to remove Ullmark from the game.

“He kind of tweaked something a little bit,” Green said. “Precautionary, we just felt it was best we bring him out. Get it evaluated again.”

That put a damper on a three-point night by top centre Tim Stutzle, along with goals from Michael Amadio and Drake Batherson with the club coming off a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

“It was just another great team effort,” said Stutzle. “I thought all four lines, and every single (defenceman), we played together as a group and fought for each other. It’s a big team win.”

Ullmark was slow getting up when Boston’s JJ Peterka smashed into the crease with 4:24 left in the second. Ullmark stayed in the goal to finish the period, but it initially looked like he was in discomfort.

Green said Ullmark was injured from that incident and we’ll have to see what happens when the Senators arrive in Detroit.

The Senators have now started the season with two straight wins for the first time in 10 years. The last time the club won in a row to start the year was in the first two games of the 2016-17 campaign.

“It was just a really good road game. We were on our toes right from the drop of the puck,” Green said. “It’s tough building to play in, and our guys were prepared to play the type of game we needed to play.”

Victories over rivals in the Atlantic Division are paramount.

The Senators have talked about getting off to a strong start, and they’ll go for three straight wins on Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena to wrap up this trip.

Ottawa gave up only 19 shots.

The Senators were without their top defensive pairing of Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub. The latter left the club’s game against the Leafs on Saturday, and the former is still recovering from a knee injury Zub suffered in the playoffs last spring.

That’s okay, they made up for the loss with plenty of firepower.

When Amadio gave the Senators a 4-0 lead only 5:19 into the second period, an incensed Boston coach Marco Sturm called a timeout and read his club the riot act.

The Senators were skating circles around the Bruins. Green says his club is at its best when it’s connected, and the Senators didn’t look like they were missing a beat.

Stützle was flying. Nine of his 12 goals against Boston have come at the expense of Jeremy Swayman. Along with scoring twice, he sprung Batherson on a breakaway with a perfect pass only 66 seconds into the second period, helping the Senators build a 3-0 lead.

“The belief has always been there no matter who is in the lineup,” Batherson said. “We play for each other, and every guy wants each other’s best, and when we do that we’re a tough team to beat.”

Not bad for starters. The Senators pulled out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, and made life miserable for the Bruins.

The Senators opened the scoring in style, thanks to a two-goal effort by Stutzle. Only one was shorthanded, but Ottawa essentially pulled out to a 2-0 lead on the same Boston powerplay.

Stutzle’s second of the night came at 9:22 of the first on his second 2-on-1 in less than two minutes. He took a pass, fanned on a shot on Swayman and then beat him glove side.

Yes, Stutzle whiffed on the first shot, but he showed incredible poise putting it home, only three seconds after the powerplay ended.

Only one minute and 43 seconds earlier, Stutzle opened the scoring with a shortie on a 2-on-1. He took a perfect pass from Amadio and one-timed it by Swayman.

“We played a solid game. Getting two shorties and building off that was awesome,” Batherson said. “We harped on playing to our system. Out of the gates, it’s tough, but the quicker you get to it, the quicker you can have success. We’ve been able to do that the last two games.

“Now, it’s about staying consistent.”

The only negative was the club’s inability to score on a 5-on-3 for 90 seconds. They didn’t even create any opportunities, and they had to hope it wouldn’t come back to bite them.

This wasn’t the way the Senators wanted to see Ersson make his debut.

The plan was for him to start against the Wings in Detroit, but he was pressed into duty. We’ll have to see if the Senators recall Jonas Johansson from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville to dress as the backup against the Wings.

Ersson gave up a bad goal to Boston’s James Hagens only 3:30 into the third period. Ersson gave the puck away, and then Hagens banked it off him to score.

Fortunately, he shut the door from there with eight stops, and the Senators were playing well in front of him

“We came ready to play right from the drop of the puck. It was a good 60 minutes,” said Amadio.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com