Fans will be waiting with bated breath to see who leads the Ottawa Senators onto the ice on Tuesday night in the Sunshine State.
The Senators were back on the ice Monday for a quick twirl at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, preparing to face the Florida Panthers to wrap up this quick two-game trip.
The expectation is that top goaltender Linus Ullmark, who was unavailable for the club’s 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday because he needed a “rest”, will return against the Panthers.
We can’t say definitively that it will be the case.
The Panthers may be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, but they’re the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, and the Senators need their top goaltender in this one because they’re already shorthanded on defence without Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen.
The Senators have an 0-2-0 record against Florida this season and have been outscored 9-4 in the first two games. The Senators haven’t won a game in Sunrise since Dec. 14, 2021.
James Reimer of the Ottawa Senators makes a save against Darren Raddysh of the Lightning during the second period on March 28, 2026 in Tampa.
Goaltending a touchy subject
There has been a lot of debate in nearly every corner of Ottawa’s universe surrounding the decision by coach Travis Green not to play Ullmark in a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday to start this trip and use backup James Reimer instead.
That set off fireworks on social media. Detroit Red Wings coach Todd McLellan announced on Monday that top goaltender John Gibson will make his 12th consecutive start on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But the Senators are at the most pivotal point of the season.
They went into Monday night’s action two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wildcard spot in the East, and if there was ever a time the club needed Ullmark at the top of his game, it’s right now.
Ullmark has dealt with a lot this season, including a 35-day absence for mental health reasons.
If Ullmark didn’t feel he was ready to play after making 36 stops in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins on Thursday night at home, then it made no sense for Green and goalie coach Justin Peters to try to force the No. 1 to take the net in the matinee in Tampa Bay.
Since returning from the break on Jan. 31, Ullmark has been solid. He has posted a 9-2-3 record in 14 games with a .905 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average in that stretch.
Making $8.25 million U.S. in the first season of a four-year, $33 million extension he signed in September 2024, Ullmark was brought here to help this organization make the next step to the playoffs, and played a big role in the Senators achieving that goal last spring.
He has started 12 of the club’s last 16 games since the Senators returned from the break for the Winter Olympic Games last month in Italy. If Ullmark faces the Panthers, he’ll close out March with 12 starts.
Save the day
But the club’s goaltending is under the microscope because it has played a large part in why the Senators aren’t coasting into the playoffs for the second straight spring instead of battling for a spot down the stretch.
The Senators are ranked No. 30 in the National Hockey League with an .874 save percentage in 73 games. Only the Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks are worse than Ottawa.
Allan Walsh, a well-respected agent and the co-managing director of Octagon Hockey, posted a couple of quotes from two of the NHL’s most legendary and winningest coaches on the social media site X about goaltending on Sunday night.
“Hockey is 80% goaltending until you don’t have it. And then it’s 100 percent,” said the late Pat Quinn.
Then, Walsh turned to Scotty Bowman, who made the same argument with different words.
“Goaltending doesn’t matter unless you don’t have it,” Bowman said.
Those words will resonate with Ottawa hockey fans because it feels like goaltending is a never-ending debate with the Senators.
Ullmark’s arrival from the Boston Bruins in a trade in June 2024 was supposed to put a stop to what had been a chaotic crease since the club opted not to re-sign Craig Anderson at the end of the 2021 campaign.
The Senators have reached the point where they’re trying to save their season, and they need all hands on deck to make that happen, especially when they don’t have three of their top defenders.
That’s why many wondered what was happening when Ullmark didn’t play on Saturday in Tampa.
There is nothing anybody can do about his absence now, except turn the page and prepare for a final, pivotal push to the playoffs, hopefully, with Ullmark making his return against the Panthers.
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