Senators may need to seek goaltending help with Mads Sogaard injured

Published Oct 21, 2024  •  4 minute read

Ottawa Senator goalie Mads Sogaard suffered a leg injury on the weekend. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

The Ottawa Senators took another hit in the net on the weekend.

Less than 24 hours after being returned to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville, goaltender Mads Sogaard left the club’s 5-2 loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday at the CAA Arena.

Sogaard spent the last week with Ottawa after the club lost Linus Ullmark with an undisclosed strain.

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Sogaard left the game only 1:14 into the second and had to be helped off the ice after he appeared to suffer a leg injury when Crunch defenceman Derrick Pouliot pushed a rebound through him in the crease.

There was no update on Sogaard after the game, but if he’s out long-term, the club may turn to Dustin Tokarski, who attended the Senators’ camp on a free-agent tryout and hasn’t signed with anybody else.

This is another tough blow for Sogaard. He’s been plagued by injuries throughout his career and that has hurt his development.

He also missed a week in camp with an undisclosed injury, which was a setback for him trying to push backup Anton Forsberg for the job behind Ullmark.

Forsberg is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and Sogaard is on a one-way contract that will pay him $775,000 next season, but he’s yet to show he can play at the National Hockey League level.

Sogaard allowed four goals on 15 shots in the club’s 8-7 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings at home on Thanksgiving Day.

Belleville doesn’t play until it faces the Toronto Marlies in a home-and-home series that will begin on Friday on the road.

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A NEW DESTINATION

The Senators headed to Salt Lake City to adjust to the two-hour time change and skate on Monday at the Delta Center.

Coming off a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at home, the Senators got their first look at the rink during a 40-minute skate. By all accounts, the atmosphere for the Utah Hockey Club has been strong for its first two home games.

The players were impressed with their brief visit.

“It’s a little like the Barcley’s Center in Long Island because there’s really nothing behind the nets and it feels a little tight,” Ullmark told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson.

“But it’s got good lighting because some areas can be dim. I enjoyed it. It’s a nice city so far. There was no one out there on a Sunday when arrived so that was a little different.”

Ullmark added: “You’re just trying to feel it out and get as many repetitions in to see how it feels. There are some minor differences here and there, depending on where the boxes are and the colours of (rinks) can throw you off sometimes.”

Centre Tim Stutzle said he liked his first look at the rink after the Arizona Coyotes playing a college rink at Arizona State University.

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“The visiting room is awesome and they take good care of the visiting team,” Stutzle said. “For them, it’s a big upgrade.”

THIS N’ THAT

The Senators made one move by placing winger Matthew Highmore, who was placed on injury reserve after he suffered an upper-body injury in the final preseason game on Oct. 5, on waivers on Monday. That means he’s fully healthy and once Highmore clears on Tuesday at 2 p.m., he’ll be sent to Belleville … Stutzle was involved physically against the Bolts and he was trying to make his presence felt because he didn’t feel like he was doing enough offensively. “Especially in that game, I felt like all my other aspects weren’t going, and it’s one of those games where I didn’t feel unreal. I didn’t feel like I had a feel for the puck so I just wanted to help the team by playing that way,” Stutzle said. “It worked out pretty good.” He noted you have to bring different elements. “I try to push all the time, but I think there’s a time and place. That was the perfect game because I wasn’t feeling (the confidence) with my hands. I wanted to help the team that way,” said Stutzle, who has three goals and three assists in five games.

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THE LAST WORDS

Utah will be without defenceman Sean Durzi against the Senators and he won’t be back anytime soon. Coach Andre Tourigny told Postmedia that Durzi, who was injured in the club’s loss to New Jersey on Oct. 14, has been sent for further testing. The club is already without blueliner John Marino. “They’re both out for the long term,” Tourigny said … Salt Lake has a rich hockey history. Not only did Team Canada win gold in the city at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Central Hockey League made the city their home from 1974-to-1984. The Utah Grizzlies of the International Hockey League were housed there from 1995-to-2001. TSN analyst Jamie McLennan, who will be at the rink for this one, played 14 games with the Grizzlies during the 1995-96 campaign, when Butch Goring was the club’s head coach. Former NHL coaches Rick Bowness, Claude Julien, Paul MacLean, Alain Vigneault, Brad Shaw and the late Mark Reeds suited up for the Eagles.

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