The Ottawa Senators are squandering what could be the best playoff series of Linus Ullmark's career. The netminder has posted a .933 save percentage through three games against the Carolina Hurricanes, yet the Senators find themselves down 3-0 in the series.
If you had been told before the Stanley Cup playoffs that goaltender Linus Ullmark would have a .933 save percentage through three games against the Carolina Hurricanes, the most pessimistic outlook you would give the Ottawa Senators certainly would not be a 3-0 series deficit.
It verges on cruel that this is how the Senators likely will meet their demise. Through the first half of the regular season, all they needed was middling goaltending to have been threatening the top spot in the Atlantic division, instead of floundering at the bottom of the standings. Now, they have one of the best goalies in the post-season, and everything in front of him is a bit of a mess.
Coach Green acknowledges issues
“It feels like the strength of our team all year was our 200-foot game,” Senators head coach Travis Green said on Friday. “And right now, that hasn’t been the strength of our game through these three games. I think for spurts of the games it has been. I think mentally we’ve gotten a little bit away from our game, and we’ve got to reel that back in.”
Ullmark has never played quite like this before. Before this series with the Hurricanes, the Swede had never posted a playoff save percentage better than .896. Even during his Vezina season with the Boston Bruins in 2022-23, he fizzled in the first round against the Florida Panthers, losing the crease to teammate Jeremy Swayman for Game 7.
Three years later, Ullmark has entirely dispelled any doubts that he can perform under heightened pressure. The 32-year-old built on his game each month after taking a leave of absence for mental health reasons nearly all of January. And when it came time to put it all on the line in the post-season, he gave the Senators the best three-game stretch of his playoff career.
Offensive struggles plague Senators
Ullmark is standing on his head, making countless desperation saves and timely stops to keep his team in each game against the Eastern Conference first seed. And what have the skaters done for him at the other end? Three goals in three games.
“Ully’s playing amazing,” defenceman Jordan Spence said. “You can really tell by the three games that we’ve played. Right now, we’re not capitalizing on our chances. I think we’ve had some good looks, but at the end of the day, we lost. So, we’ve just got to keep on focusing on what’s ahead. We’re really excited to play next game and kind of take it one game, one shift at a time.”
Sure, of the two starting goaltenders, Carolina’s Frederik Andersen has better numbers, but it’s not like Ullmark is being outdueled. In reality, Andersen has looked shaky at times. The first two games, he was undeniably the luckier goaltender, making saves while falling down and getting bailed out by incredible defensive plays by his teammates. The Senators have struck iron six times through three games, four more than the Hurricanes. And that’s not to make excuses for Ottawa’s lack of offence.
