The Senators hope Forsberg's 31-save shutout on Wednesday night might indicate better days ahead.
Whether it is a pundit, an analyst or a coaching staff member, most agree that to win in the postseason, you need strong goaltending and special teams play to stand a chance.
Having not sniffed the postseason in seven years, the Senators have struggled to get one of these facets of their game going, let alone two.
During last night's game in Utah, the combination worked in concert to propel the Senators to a 4-0 win. The victory was unique, not in the sense that it was Ottawa's first victory in the beehive state, but it marked the 13th time in franchise history that the Senators won a game in regulation in which they shut out the opposition, scored one or more power-play goals, and generated fewer than 30 shots while giving up 30 or more shots.
The Senators were widely outplayed for long stretches of last night's game. They only generated 39.39 percent of the shots (CF%), 42.22 percent of the shots on goal (SF%), 31.82 percent of the scoring chances (SCF%), and 36.46 of the expected goals (xGF%) per NaturalStatTrick.
Fortunately, Anton Forsberg came up with a tremendous performance, and it cannot be understated how badly he needed it.
The Swedish goaltender entered the game with one of the league's worst expected goals marks in the league.
When Mads Sogaard was returned to Belleville, it was revealed that Linus Ullmark was one of the two goaltenders travelling with the Senators on their western road swing. After missing the team's three previous games with an undisclosed strain, the news that their offseason's biggest splash was ready to assume his role as the team's number-one starter was met with excitement.
So naturally, when Leevi Merilainen was recalled from Belleville ahead of yesterday's game, and it was announced Ullmark would be held out of the lineup for an extra few days, it elicited a ton of concern and understandably so. That is what enduring years of misfortune and poor performance will do to a fan base.
From the team's perspective and a personal and professional standpoint, Anton Forsberg needed an effort like last night.
The goaltending position is so volatile and afflicted by a "What have you done for me lately?" perspective from management and fans it is easy to forget how credible Forsberg was when he arrived during the 2020-21 season.
In 82 appearances between the 2020-21 and the 2022-23 seasons, Forsberg had 14.38 goals saved above expected per Evolving-Hockey. Of the 167 goaltenders who played in the league during that period, it was the 19th-best total.
The events of his February 11, 2022, game against the Edmonton Oilers changed everything. Forsberg was stretchered off the ice after Oilers forward Zach Hyman fell onto him during a scramble in the crease. Forsberg avoided the surgeon's knife but was diagnosed with MCL tears to each of his knees. He has not resembled or performed at his pre-injury form since.
Like other players who have endured knee injuries, the hope is that time and rehabilitation would eventually lead him back to his previous iteration. The longer that process took, however, the easier it was to believe that he might not be able to get back there. Without veteran internal options and Ottawa's young prospects failing to stand out in their limited appearances at the parent level, you could not blame fans for wondering whether the organization had reached a point where they would have to start looking for external solutions to bolster the position's depth and quality.
If Forsberg can consistently resemble his pre-injury form, that will alleviate pressure on management to consider alternatives and take pressure off the teammates playing in front of him.