Linus Ullmark was back on the ice with the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, but not back in the net.
The Senators goaltender joined the club’s optional skate, yet head coach Travis Green said he will not start against the Buffalo Sabres. Ullmark has been out for the last five games with a lower-body injury, and Ottawa has gone 2-2-1 in that stretch.
Even with the missed time, Ullmark’s season has been a strong one. The 33-year-old has gone 7-1-0 and leads the NHL with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage.
With Ullmark still sidelined, Samuel Ersson will get the start again. The 27-year-old is in his first season with the Senators after being acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the off-season in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Ersson has struggled to find consistency this year, posting a 1-3-1 record with a 3.78 GAA and an .886 save percentage. Last season with the Philadelphia Flyers, he finished 14-11-5 with a 3.12 GAA and an .870 save percentage.
Ottawa will also be without defenceman Tyler Kleven, who is out with an illness. Kleven has two goals and three points in 16 games this season and ranks fifth on the team in ice time, averaging 20:14 per night.
The Senators enter Wednesday’s matchup sitting fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 9-6-1 record. It’s their first meeting of the season with the defending Atlantic Division champion Sabres.
In Other News...
Senators Give Two Depth Names A Big Chance In Buffalo
The Senators finish their five-game road trip in Buffalo with a lineup that looks a lot like the one they used in Anaheim, but there are still a couple of fresh wrinkles for a team trying to get through the stretch without much margin for error. Sammy Blais is set to make his regular-season debut for Ottawa, a chance earned in part by the injuries that have thinned the group and opened a door for depth players to step in and matter.
Carter Yakemchuk is also expected back in the lineup after missing the previous game, giving Ottawa another young option on the blue line as Nikolas Matinpalo sits out with illness. Samuel Ersson gets the start in goal, and with the road trip winding down, the Senators are again leaning on a mix of regulars and call-up energy to get through one more game before heading home. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Power Play Problem Is Starting To Put Travis Green On Spot
The Senators power play has become one of the clearest trouble spots in the early part of the season, and it is starting to put Travis Green in an uncomfortable position. Ottawa has had chances to cash in with the extra man, but the unit has too often looked disjointed, with sluggish puck movement, sloppy passing and too little sustained pressure to make opponents pay.
For a team that needs every edge it can get, the lack of finishing touch on special teams has fed into the bigger scoring concerns around the roster. The encouraging part is that the fix does not seem mysterious, with more shooting and cleaner movement among the adjustments that could help, but until the Senators show they can turn those ideas into results, the spotlight on Green and his staff is only going to get brighter. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Look Smarter By The Day After That Josh Norris Trade
At the 2025 NHL trade deadline, Ottawa made one of the boldest moves of its season when it sent Josh Norris to Buffalo in a deal for Dylan Cozens, a swap that also sent draft picks and other pieces into the mix before those assets were later moved or signed elsewhere. For the Senators, the trade was about more than changing names on the roster. It was a bet on fit, health and a fresh start for a team trying to build a more reliable forward group.
So far, the early returns have tilted Ottawas way. Norris has battled injuries and uneven play in Buffalo, while Cozens has settled in quickly and given the Senators the kind of production they were hoping to add. The longer this trend continues, the better that deadline gamble looks for Ottawa, even if the full ripple effects of the deal are still being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]