Ottawa Senators could be without star goalie Linus Ullmark for rest of road trip

The cone of silence is up again, something that's not unique to the Senators.

Published Dec 27, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Linus Ullmark #35 of the Ottawa Senators looks on during the third period against the Edmonton Oilers at Canadian Tire Centre on November 19, 2024 in Ottawa. Photo by Chris Tanouye/Freestyle Photo /GETTY IMAGES

Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark won’t play Saturday in Winnipeg.

Or Sunday in Minnesota.

Or probably not Jan. 2 in Dallas … or Jan. 3 in St. Louis … or Jan. 7 in Detroit.

We don’t really know when Ullmark, whose back “tightened up” in a Dec. 22 game in Edmonton, will play again or how long he’ll be out for. But it sure looks like he’ll miss the final five games of the Senators’ nine-game road trip.

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You’d have to assume Senators coach Travis Green knows something about the status of his starting goalie, whose spectacular play helped his team go on a six-game winning streak leading into a 3-1 loss in Edmonton. But Green isn’t saying much.

“(Anton Forsberg) will travel with us, Linus probably won’t,” Green told reporters following a practice Friday morning at the Bell Sensplex, the site of several Bell Capital Cup games. “No update on Linus. He tweaked his back, he’s still not good enough to skate.”

Asked if the team would have extra caution in getting Ullmark back into the lineup, Green said: “We take extra caution with all our players.”

The cone of silence is up again, something that’s not unique to the Senators; it seems to be an NHL thing. And, while other leagues demand their teams be more transparent about injuries, the NHL doesn’t seem to give a crap what its teams say.

Losing Ullmark for any amount of time is a big blow. With an eight-game stretch where he allowed just eight goals and had two shutouts, he now has 12 wins, a goals-against average of 2.38 and a save-percentage of .915.

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The good news is it looks like Forsberg’s return is imminent. He injured himself in a pre-game warmup two weeks ago and hasn’t played since.

The Senators also have Leevi Meriläinen, who replaced Ullmark against Edmonton, and Mads Sogaard, who was called up from Belleville, Ottawa’s American. Hockey League farm club. 

“We have all the trust in anyone who is in net,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said. “Both guys have won in the NHL before. It will be up to us to make their job as easy as possible, help them out in any way we can.”

“The mindset is not going to change,” Green said. “We want to play a good 200-foot game no matter who’s in net.”

It looks like winger Michael Amadio could be out for a while. But the good news for the Senators is winger David Perron and defenceman Artem Zub skated Friday.

While time off during the Christmas break was an opportunity for players to be with families and come back refreshed, it also interrupted some momentum for the Senators, who had won three of four road games.

“We’ve played some good hockey,” Green said. “We’ve got some good tests coming up and we’ll have to be on top of our game.

“The mindset is not going to change. We want to play a good 200-foot game no matter who’s in net.”

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