The Ottawa Senators had a rough start to the 2025-26 season, going 2-4-1 over their first seven games, but arguably no one had a worse start than goalie Linus Ullmark. The Senators’ starter had a .854 save percentage (SV%), one of the worst averages of any goalie that had appeared in net this season, and his 3.80 goals-against average (GAA) was only bested by Dustin Wolf and Ilya Sorokin among goalies who started the majority of their team’s games.
Ullmark’s stats weren’t just bad; they were worrying, and with their history with goalies, fans were looking at him as just another Matt Murray, Cam Talbot, and Joonas Korpisalo.
But over the last week, Ullmark has been one of the NHL’s best. He sits fifth with a 1.65 GAA and seventh in SV% among goalies who have made multiple starts. Then, during the Senators’ dismantling of the Washington Capitals, he skated down the ice to help out his team during a scrum behind Charlie Lindgren’s net. Suddenly, Senators’ fans were fully behind their goalie. All the doubts and criticisms were gone, replaced with pure passion and support.
The sudden change directly follows the Senators playing better defence and being smarter about how they play with the puck. Head coach Travis Green has worked to get the Senators back to where they were last season, and so far, it’s been a struggle, which has left Ullmark out to dry, so to speak. But, as the Senators began to play better defence and not cheat for goals, Ullmark’s numbers improved. It only took a marginal improvement for Ullmark to improve drastically, and it might just be that Ottawa’s goalie is finally feeling supported by the team in front of him.
Senators Haven’t Helped Ullmark Enough
One major issue with Ullmark’s slow start is the Senators’ special teams. Before their win over the Capitals, the team’s penalty kill was a measly 57.69%, the worst in the NHL. That had a huge impact on Ullmark, who was often left out to dry. At even strength, he had a 2.61 GAA, but while on the penalty kill, that jumped up to a shocking 9.93 GAA and a .667 SV% against high danger shots while down a man. All that resulted in eight goals against while killing penalties, or over 30% of Ullmark’s total.
“There is a certain style of play that we want,” said Green after the loss to the New York Islanders on Oct 18. “There has been a lot of talk about creating more offence, but that doesn’t mean cheating for offence. That part of our game isn’t tight right now. We’re on the wrong side of the puck…We did a lot of good things tonight, but I thought our mindset was a little loose.” (from “TAKEAWAYS: Ottawa Senators coach Travis Green steaming after loss to Isles,” Ottawa Citizen – 18/10/2025)
It’s a similar situation to the criticism Ullmark faced in the playoffs last season. Despite several defensive collapses and bad puck movement, the blame unfairly fell on the Senators’ goalie, who wasn’t able to make a save when he was given so little support. Thankfully, the team’s struggles got better as the series wore on, and Ullmark was able to push the Maple Leafs to six games before being eliminated.
So far, the Senators have been good at limiting shots against, averaging the third-lowest shots against per game at 24.7 this season. But their penchant to allow high-danger chances has cost them. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Senators have allowed 72 high-danger chances on 170 scoring chances at 5-on-5, which only improves slightly when looking at all matchups. That’s over 40% of all scoring chances against, and even though Ullmark has been an average goalie at high danger chances, he’s not been given a lot of chances to succeed.
Ullmark’s Mental Health Struggles
Ullmark has always been incredibly critical of his game. He’s been open about his mental health struggles, sharing during Bell’s Let’s Talk Day in January 2025, “Day to day, I’m still, not fighting it, but I’m working on it, every single day.” There was a moment when he was still in Sweden and felt so alone, especially when thinking back to his dad, who was going through similar feelings back home. Those feelings came back when he couldn’t attend his father’s funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s possible those feelings resurfaced during the preseason. After letting in three goals on five shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ullmark was very blunt about his performance. “I thought it was a pretty terrible showing today,” he said after the preseason game. “Sometimes you’re the best one out there and sometimes you’re not.”
Ullmark finished the 2025-26 preseason with a .874 SV% over two games, which is well below league average, but his numbers were on par with Adin Hill, Sam Montembault, John Gibson, and Connor Hellebuyck. Nothing to worry about.
Related: Senators Fans’ Patience Running Thin After Poor Start to the Season
But it looked to only get worse as the season started. After losing 5-4 to the Islanders, Ullmark was again highly critical of his play. “I am not pleased with how many goals have gone in,” Ullmark said after the loss. “At the end of the day, what mattered for me, though, was that I let in the fifth (goal) with one minute left on that play where I kind of screwed up.”
While the honesty is refreshing from a goalie about the goals he allowed, Ullmark’s issues seemed to be more than taking the occasional allowed goal very hard. There wasn’t anything in particular he was doing that was leading to all these goals; he just wasn’t himself. “It’s hard to say, really. I don’t really feel like I can complain about one thing,” he said after the Islanders game. “It’s all about creating good habits for myself, going out there with an intent to battle my utmost and don’t give up on the puck. And once I do things well, all these reps will come bearing fruit at the end of the day.”
Hockey is a highly mental game, and goaltending can be especially lonely. One bad game can have long-lasting effects, and with Ullmark being especially sensitive to those changes, his early struggles may have bled into the regular season.
The Senators Thrive When They Play as a Unit
One thing that every player notices about the Senators when they first arrive is how close all the players are to each other. The young core has practically grown up with each other, giving them a lot more chemistry both on and off the ice. It’s why Ullmark jumped into the scrum against the Capitals. “It’s more about showing up for the guys and showing your presence,” he said after the game. “It’s just what the situation developed into.”
It’s a massive confidence boost for a team when their goalie sticks up for his teammates. The goalie often sets the emotional tone for a game, and Ullmark’s willingness to skate down to help will have a huge impact in the locker room. That’s even more important while Brady Tkachuk, the Senators’ heart and soul, is still out with an injured thumb.
“It’s not one or two things that cause you to not be connected as a group,” said Green after being asked about the team’s struggles this season. “It can be multiple things, or it can be one simple play. You don’t talk to someone on the ice that causes it, and getting into that mode, that urgency mode, is a step for us to play that way (a team that’s hard to play against) for 60 minutes.”
But the Senators have finally figured it out, and everyone is contributing. Over the past four games, six players have at least four points, and 10 have scored at least one goal. They’ve also allowed an average of just 1.75 goals per game, the lowest tally in the NHL over that span. When everyone’s on the same page, the Senators’ system works.
Ullmark can only do so much. He is just one man standing between the pipes, trying to stop a shot whenever it comes. But he isn’t alone, and when the Senators started helping him out, they began winning. If they continue to operate as a full unit, they’ll be a team to watch come playoff time.
