Ullmark shook off his usual chill persona for a feisty moment on Saturday night.
If asked to describe the personality of Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark, most folks would come up with words like calm, chill, or maybe even quirky. But a fighter? A brawling goalie cut from the same cloth as the late Ray Emery?
Not likely.
However, on Saturday night, in the middle of the Ottawa Senators' 7–1 win in Washington, that was exactly the role that Ullmark planned to assume during an incident where things got heated.
The moment occurred late in the second period when Capitals' goalie Charlie Lindgren went after the always pesky Ridly Greig, which started a large scrum involving everyone on the ice. With Lindgren being the aggressor and showing no signs of letting up, Ullmark decided it was time to intervene, skating the length of the ice to try and neutralize his opposing goalie.
Ullmark had every right to be in the scrum to even things out, but was quickly and inexplicably yanked out of the pile by one of the referees. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, but Ullmark was obviously more than ready to go, shaking off his blocker like a seasoned enforcer, ready to throw some rights.
He shared his thoughts about the melee after the game and said he believed Lindgren was probably still steamed about Shane Pinto's controversial goal earlier in the period. Lindgren and the Capitals wanted a goalie interference call because Pinto had collided with him, but it seemed pretty clear that Jakob Chychrun has shoved Pinto into the goalie.
"I love Charlie," Ullmark told the media. "I think he's a heck of a goaltender. Obviously, he's very fired up ever since (the controversial goal) was allowed as well. So he shows a lot of emotions. So when he goes in there and sticks up for his guys, I could stand waiting as well.
"But as soon as he kind of kept going, it's not really about the actual fight, it's more about showing up for the guys and showing your presence. It's not like I'm looking for (fights). I don't want to instigate or anything like that. It's not my game or anything. It's just what the situation kind of developed into."
Ullmark probably had plenty of energy as he wasn't tested much during the game. The Senators outshot the Capitals 34-13 en route to the 7-1 blowout victory on the road.
He'll probably be a good deal friendlier to the opposing goalie on Monday night when Jeremy Swayman and his old teammates, the Boston Bruins, visit Canadian Tire Centre.
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