After missing almost a month and a half of action, Ullmark returned to the Sens lineup on Monday night as a backup in Nashville.
The wait is over for Linus Ullmark.
After missing almost a month and a half of action due to a back injury, the 2023 NHL Vezina winner is finally ready to reclaim the Ottawa Senator net. Ullmark hasn't played since before Christmas, hurting himself on Dec. 22 in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. He called it a night, with tightness in his back, during the first intermission. He hasn't suited up since.
Ullmark has been activated off the long-term injured reserve list, and as the Senators began a four-game road trip in Nashville on Monday night, Ullmark returned as the backup – a temporary situation, of course.
With strong secondary goaltending in Ullmark's absence, Sens head coach Travis Green has the luxury of easing his top goalie back into action gradually. When Ullmark was hurt, the Sens were the second Wild Card team, standing four games over 500. Since then, they[ve improved to eight games over 500 and hold down third place in the Atlantic Division.
But it's still ridiculously tight. The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning are both out of the playoff picture, yet only two points behind Ottawa. Because of that, there's really no easy strategy to get him back in the net.
"Just throw me into the fire, basically," Ullmark told the Ottawa media after the game-day skate in Nashville. "There are no easy games coming down the stretch here. And not even before, not after, every game matters, and that's what you want.
"You want to have those important games coming your way that make you kind of prepare for what's to come. And if you want to be a top team at the end of the year and even stand there as victorious, you gotta love these situations, love these games, because it's just going to get harder."
With Anton Forsberg tagged as the starter on Monday night. Leevi Merilainen, who posted his third shutout in 12 games on Saturday, was sent down to the minors a day later.
At most, Ullmark will only have three starts before the NHL's Four Nations Faceoff. He and Sens captain Brady Tkachuk are the only Senators players who've been named to the tourney. After being sidelined for the past month and a half, many fans have suggested Ullmark should skip the event, especially with the unpredictability of a back problem.
When TSN 1200's Gord Wilson asked him if he's hoping to get in as many games as he can before the exhibition tournament, Ullmark didn't want to talk about it.
"I don't care about the Four Nations at the moment," Ullmark said. "I care about tonight's game. That's what's important. And then when we play these four games, then I can start working and focus on the next task at hand.
"But for now, it's just Ottawa Senators. It's always going to be Ottawa Senators."
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