ALL ABOARD! Linus Ullmark ready to roll as Ottawa Senators head to Salt Lake City

The decision to send Mads Sogaard back to Belleville Sunday suggests Linus Ullmark will be ready to play on Tuesday in Utah.

Published Oct 20, 2024  •  4 minute read

Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark had missed the past three games with an injury. Photo by Graham Hughes /THE CANADIAN PRESS

That sigh of relief you heard across the city on Sunday morning came from fans of the Ottawa Senators.

Top goaltender Linus Ullmark, who has missed three straight games with an undisclosed strain he suffered last Saturday in Montreal, accompanied the Senators to Salt Lake City on Sunday and Mads Sogaard was returned to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville.

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The Senators also recalled forward Cole Reinhardt to have an extra player up front on the trip, but there is a possibility that forward Ridly Greig, who has missed three games with an upper-body ailment, could play on this trip. There is no status update on defenceman Artem Zub (concussion).

The expectation is that Ullmark will make the start on Tuesday night when the Senators face the Utah Hockey Club for the first time in franchise history at the Delta Center at 9:15 p.m.

The 31-year-old Ullmark resumed skating on Wednesday, but coach Travis Green noted before the Senators scored a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon at home that the club wanted to “err on the side of caution” in this situation.

The Senators secured two victories in the three games they played without Ullmark. The club scored an 8-7 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and backup Anton Forsberg made just enough stops down the stretch to pick up the victory against the Bolts.

Pulled after three goals on nine shots against the Kings, Forsberg can get some confidence from the big stops he made as the Lightning pressed to tie it up with the Senators clinging to the lead in the final few minutes.

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Forsberg, who had a rough week after a sub-par performance against the Devils as well, stopped 20 of 24 shots in the win.

“He was solid. He made some big saves down the stretch and I was happy for him,” Green said. “With Linus being out, it’s one thing to be the backup goalie, it’s another to know that you’ve got the net for a little bit.

“That’s a different scenario in your head. I was happy for him (on Saturday), he held down the fort when we needed him.”

The Senators moved their record to 3-2-0 as they prepare for a three-game trip that will also include a visit to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday and will wrap up next Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche.

The club needs strong efforts like it had against the Bolts because the Senators’ best players were at their best. Winger Drake Batherson led the attack with two goals and an assist.

Batherson joked that maybe his success on Saturday had something to do with a walk he and his dog Bobby took on Friday with TSN’s Claire Hanna and her beloved dog Hank for a feature the club is doing on its regional broadcasts.

But Batherson also had a lot of help from new linemates Claude Giroux and Josh Norris. Green shuffled his deck after the club’s lacklustre 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Giroux had two assists and Norris scored his third of the season.

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“I always joke with (Giroux) that he was my favourite player growing up,” Batherson said with a smile. “I said I was excited to play with him. Things were just clicking.”

Giroux had skated on the right side of Tim Stutzle and captain Brady Tkachuk through the first four games of the season. That spot was taken by veteran winger Michael Amadio.

“It’s the first time we played together, all three of us,” said Giroux. “There was a little excitement playing together. They’re fast players, and they can both shoot it and make plays, so it’s a lot of fun for me to play with them.”

The victory over the Bolts was an important two points. It calmed the waters around here a little because the Senators are trying to make the post-season and needed the two points before heading out on the road.

“It was a big response from the last game,” said top defenceman Jake Sanderson, who had three assists on Saturday and has six points to start the year. “We thought we could have won (against New Jersey).”

If the Senators are going to make the playoffs, they need to find consistency in their game. You’re not going to be perfect every night, but you can’t afford to have wild swings in games like we’ve witnessed in the first five that Ottawa has played.

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“We’re in a good spot. We haven’t had any stinkers, for lack of a better word,” said winger Noah Gregor, who scored his first in an Ottawa uniform with a shorthanded effort in the third period that turned out to be the winner.

“We just want to find consistency to see that we’re playing the same way every night. That’s what good teams do and that’s what we want to be, a good team. It’s been really solid. We’ve got some good teams on this road trip so we’ll be tested.”

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