Senators’ strong goaltending has kept the team in the playoff hunt

The Ottawa Senators finally have stability in net courtesy of Linus Ullmark.

On pace to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017, a big credit to the Senators’ success this season has come between the pipes where through 35 appearances Ullmark has posted an 18-12-3 showing alongside a .911 save percentage, 2.67 goals-against average, and three shutouts.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Jonny Lazarus, Nate Thompson, and Jason York chatted about Ullmark’s valuable addition to the Senators this season.

Jonny Lazarus: Last year, I tweeted that I would bet my life that the Senators would make the playoffs. That was last season. This year, [the Senators making the playoffs] seems to be the trendy topic. Is the difference Ullmark?

Jason York: I say he is part of it, absolutely. Don’t forget, he was hurt for parts of this year as well. They brought up a kid named Leevi Merilainen and he played lights out good. He went on a heater for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg had some nice stretches as well. That combined, you have to give credit to those other guys too, but for sure, Ullmark has been playing some great hockey lately. That six-game winning streak, he was on a fire. I’m sure you guys saw that save he made the other night against Toronto. It was crazy. Probably the save of the year. What he has done, when you have a veteran guy, it just calms everybody down. You know if you make a mistake, he is going to be there. He is a pretty chill guy. I think his presence in the dressing room, even when he wasn’t playing, I just know as a defenseman, it’s just infectious on the rest of the team. I think, if he has brought one thing, it is a real nice calmness to this group.

Nate Thompson: That’s always a nice thing to have. I remember playing in Montreal and we had Carey Price, who was a calming influence who helped everybody.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: