Linus Ullmark is tuning out the noise.

The Ottawa Senators’ top goaltender is well aware he has his critics after what has been a difficult start to the season.

As the Senators and the 32-year-old Ullmark return to his old home at the TD Garden on Thursday night to start a two-game road trip, he literally swore to reporters on Wednesday that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

Making $8.25 million US on a four-year contract extension that kicked in this season, Ullmark has posted a 5-4-2 record in 11 starts with a 3.41 goals-against average and a .861 save percentage.

Ulmark is ranked 65th in the league in save percentage and No. 58 in GAA.

Those numbers aren’t good enough, and they can’t continue if Ottawa is going to battle for a playoff spot. Ullmark knows it, but he’s focused on doing his job and not listening to the naysayers.

What’s it been like going through that pressure?

“I can’t say it here,” Ullmark said after the club’s skate at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday. “There are so many things I’d like to say to all the people, all the doubters, all the so-called ‘experts’, that I can’t say to the media.

Cares about what his teammates think

“It is what it is. Everybody has a right to their own opinion, but the only opinions that matter are the people around me that I do care about and my coaches. What everybody else says, they’re entitled to say whatever they want because I don’t give two s—s about it.”

Of course, then Ullmark stopped himself after realizing he swore.

“Can I say that? Two craps about it. Two poops,” he added with a smile.

Of course, Ullmark has the right to say whatever he wants, and he shouldn’t care what anybody thinks other than those he goes to battle with every night.

But even he knows he has to be better. Ullmark was brought here to help get this group to the next level, and his play down the stretch last season was exactly what the Senators needed to make the playoffs.

Ullmark has a good relationship with goalie coach Justin Peters and they spend a lot of time breaking down the game, while also determining what they can do to have more success.

An observer noted they had a lengthy chat near centre ice after the club’s 35-minute skate. Peters is a pretty low-key person. If you spend any time with him, you’re automatically going to like him because he’s a good person to speak with, a calm approach, and, of course, a sense of humor.

A lot of what the two talk about is the mental approach to the game. It’s important that Ullmark doesn’t ride the highs too high or the lows too low. He does strike you as the kind of player who attempts to stay on an even keel as best as he can.

After criticizing the club’s immaturity after a 7-3 loss on Oct. 28th to the Chicago Blackhawks, Ullmark was quick to offer up a mea culpa following a 4-3 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames only 48 hours later.

Always looking to improve

“It’s a very peculiar thing that we’re doing out on the ice. It’s a lot of mental strength, a lot of mental things. Some days, things aren’t going the way that you want them to. Then, you’ve got to stay level-headed, not get too ahead of it, and not get too frustrated,” Ullmark said.

“Sometimes you get no shots, and you have to try to stay in it instead. That’s also a different skill. With experience, you get better and better at it. So we talk a lot. I’m very open with (Peters), very open and honest. And if there’s anything troublesome, or some things that I feel are not off the snuff, or it might be okay or if I feel like I wasn’t great yesterday or I’m very frustrated, or whatever it is. I’ll let him know, and we can chat through it.

“Take a look at the footage, and come to terms with how bad it was? Was it good? Was it OK? Was it actually a great game? Sometimes when you’re playing games, you look at the results afterwards and you’re really frustrated because you might have lost the game, but that’s when you look at it the next day or the following day with a different set of eyes, it wasn’t as bad as it felt like it was.”

Ullmark knows the best way to silence the critics is to stop the puck and help the Senators win. Nothing else really matters.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com