The Ottawa Senators are going to have to manage without Linus Ullmark for at least the next week or two.
TSN’s Claire Hanna reported that the goaltender is dealing with a lower-body ailment, and the Senators moved him to injured reserve on Thursday. That’s a tough blow for Ottawa considering how sharp Ullmark has been out of the gate.
In eight appearances, he has gone 7-1-0 with a .945 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average. MoneyPuck has him second in Goals Saved Above Expected at 8.4, trailing only Jake Oettinger at 10.4.
With Ullmark sidelined, Ottawa will turn to Samuel Ersson and Jonas Johansson. Ersson is the only one of the two who has already seen action for the Senators this season, and his numbers haven’t been nearly as strong: a 0-3-0 record in three games, along with a .835 save percentage and a 4.59 GAA.
There is at least some better news on Ottawa’s injury front. Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Citizen reported earlier today that captain Thomas Chabot will travel with the Senators on their upcoming road trip.
Chabot has been out since the club’s Oct. 17 game against the Philadelphia Flyers because of an upper-body injury. Through nine games this season, the veteran defenseman has one goal and five points.
In Tampa Bay, the Lightning announced before tonight’s game against the Utah Mammoth that Victor Hedman would not play because of a lower-body injury. The setback does not seem to be a long-term concern for the captain. Hedman exited Tampa Bay’s most recent game after only one shift in the second period.
In Other News...
Senators Just Opened A Roster Decision Fans Should Watch
Kurtis MacDermid is back in the mix for the Senators after Ottawa placed the veteran winger on waivers, a sign he has moved past the upper-body injury that had kept him sidelined. The move opens a roster question for a team that has been managing the edges of its depth chart, especially with a player whose role has largely been as a fourth-line enforcer during his nine NHL seasons and 307 games.
What happens next matters for Ottawa because MacDermid is in the final year of his contract and sits in that familiar gray area between NHL depth and organizational flexibility. If he goes unclaimed, the Senators can free up cap room and likely keep him in the AHL, leaving the club with one more bit of maneuvering space as it sorts out the bottom of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Face A Bigger Test Than Beating The Rangers
The Senators got the result they needed against the Rangers, and they got it with a new face in net. Backup Jonas Johansson made his Ottawa debut and settled in well enough to help the club come away with a 7-4 win, a useful answer on a night when the offense did plenty of the heavy lifting.
The bigger concern now is what comes next on the road trip, where Ottawa may have to keep leaning on its depth in goal. Linus Ullmark remains on injured reserve and is expected to miss at least a couple of games, which turns a solid one-night performance into a more important test of how the Senators handle the stretch ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Exposed A Rangers Problem That Should Worry New York Fans
The Rangers came into Ottawa needing a cleaner start on the road, and instead the Senators quickly pushed them onto their heels. Ottawa grabbed the early lead and kept the pressure on, with Drake Batherson setting the tone before Tim Stutzle and the rest of the lineup kept New York chasing the game. The Rangers did get goals from Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafreniere, but they never fully erased the gap the Senators built early.
For New York, the bigger concern is that this was another flat road performance in a season where the away results have already been hard to ignore. The Rangers are still searching for answers away from home, and the schedule does not pause to let them sort it out, with the Los Angeles Kings next on the calendar back at home. Ottawa, meanwhile, showed exactly the kind of structure and pace that has made life difficult for the visitors. [Read more 🡒]