Ottawa Senators Postgame: Sens Lose Ullmark in Loss to Oilers

Let’s face it, Ottawa Senators fans have been spoiled lately. Six wins a row, and sitting in a playoff spot? Talk about living the good life. Inevitably, the good times were bound to end. That’s what happened tonight as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1. To make matters worse, the Senators lost their star goalie Linus Ullmark to injury after the first period. Let’s dive into the details of a Senators loss, in more ways than one.

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Linus Ullmark Injury

A win or a loss is a side story to Ullmark leaving the game after the first with an upper body injury. Ullmark’s play over the last few weeks has been nothing short of outstanding. This feels like a cruel joke right now. The Ottawa Senators are finally in a playoff picture, thanks in large part to the unbelievable play of Ullmark. Prior to tonight he was 8-0-1 with a .954 SV% over his last nine starts. The Senators gave him last night off to allow him to be at his best for the red hot Edmonton Oilers. This was also the Senators last game until December 28th. Essentially, the Sens were asking Ullmark to play the one game, and then rest up for several days before returning to action on the 28th. Instead, Ullmark will now have to quickly fight through whatever injury he’s dealing with, in hopes of keeping the Senators goaltending situation in an okay spot, given the fact that they’re already without Anton Forsberg due to injury.

Additional Notes

This was a fairly boring game, honestly. Maybe that’s the product of both teams playing the second half of back to backs. Both teams managed just 21 shots each. It’s hard to even find any big standouts on either team. Nick Cousins deserves some love for his goal, giving him five points in his last six games. The Senators did give up a power play goal tonight, but their penalty kill has been a lot better lately. In their six game win streak, their penalty kill was unbelievable, at a 93% success rate. The biggest change, in my opinion? They’ve decided to play a lot more aggressively, which includes pushing for some offense while down a man. They scored two shorthanded goals in their six game winning streak. Prior to that, they had just one shorthanded goal all season. With the Ullmark injury, now’s the perfect time for a little Christmas break. Let’s enjoy some Christmas turkey with the hopes that Ullmark’s injury is nothing serious.