Led by Linus Ullmark, Senators show how this year could be different

OTTAWA — Signed, sealed and delivered.

For a Senators team that has been on their hands and knees begging for elite goaltending, their newly acquired, newly extended netminder Linus Ullmark hit the spot in his regular season debut. Ullmark stopped 30 of 31 shots, leading the Senators to a scrappy 3-1 win over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Ullmark is quick and nimble in net, tight to his posts, square to shooters and willing to challenge them — all while never looking rushed or hurried. Even in the third period when the Panthers launched 17 shots on Ullmark, he looked cool and in control.

“I didn't really have time to think; there was a lot of bombarding from their side,” said Ullmark.

In seasons prior, when the Senators were bombarded, they caved.

“Ullmark helped us a lot. We were struggling at times in the defensive zone, but we just kept them to the outside,” said Tim Stutzle, who scored two of the three Senators’ goals.

Head coach Travis Green was also impressed.

“He was great, he played exactly like he has from day one. Confident, calm. When you get into these types of games, when the other team’s pushing hard, there's usually a couple moments where the goalie has to make a save and he came up with the save.”

The Senators outplayed the Panthers in the first period and were up 2-0 at the intermission. As the game progressed, however, the Panthers increasingly skewed the ice their way.

In the third period, the Panthers suffocated the Senators during two shifts lasting more than two minutes each, cycling around Ottawa's end and creating chance after chance. But the Senators were bailed out by Ullmark.

On one of the shifts, Matthew Tkachuk found himself all alone with Ullmark. Tkachuk tried to wait out the goaltender, but Ullmark didn’t bite and parried away the backhand attempt with a left pad save. When your goaltender manages to save all five high danger scoring chances in the third period (according to NaturalStatTrick.com) you know he's cooking.

The Senators bent but did not break. Throughout the game, fans chanted, “Ullmark! Ullmark!”

“It was awesome,” said Ullmark after the game. “I had some (goosebumps). Had not just one or two, but a lot of goosebumps.”

The only puck that got by the charismatic Swede was a point shot from Gustav Forsling that rocketed through bodies in the second period.

Ullmark’s teammates remarked that in prior seasons the Senators would have broken due to the Panthers’ onslaught.

“I felt like at the end of the third, we just grinded and chipped away,” said Stutzle. “And we had a lot of those games the years before that where we would do super mistakes, and we didn't do that tonight. So, I think it's a great step in the right direction.”

The four-year, $33-million contract extension Ullmark signed Wednesday will be a bargain if he continues play like he did on opening night.

Stutzle Shines

Tim Stutzle, who managed just one power play goal all of last season, was the first Senator on the board in 2024-25, scoring on the man advantage in the first period with a rocket of a wrist shot.

This is an important season for Stutzle, whose production dropped by 21 goals and 20 points a year ago. He is aiming to return to the form and promise he showed in 2022-23, when he notched 39 goals and 90 points.

“I wanted to be strong on my skates, win more battles and just get physically better prepared,” Stutzle told Sportsnet.ca during training camp. “I wasn't happy how the season ended up last year. I didn't feel great over the 75 games I played. I wanted to be better and be consistent.”

Stutzle sealed the team’s win Thursday night in a dramatic play with just over a minute left to go in the third. The Panthers’ net was empty, and the Stanley Cup champions were swarming the Senators’ zone. However, when Aleksander Barkov's stick exploded Brady Tkachuk flipped the puck down the ice and Stutzle made a dash for it, wrestling with Florida's captain in the slot, with both players crashing into the end boards. The play ended up with the puck in the net for Stutzle's second of the night and with Barkov on the ice in pain.

“Anytime a good player gets off to a good start, they feel good about themselves,” said Green. “It was nice to get the power play goal, but I liked his empty net goal even more. Those are the kind of things we are talking about. Winning races, coming out with pucks. I know it was an empty net, but it was a big play at a big time.”

Barkov was helped off the ice. A further update on his condition is expected on Friday.

Other Notes:

• Shane Pinto had the unenviable job of centring the Senators’ third line against the Panthers’ powerhouse trio of Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Pinto broke up plays all night on the defensive end, created plays in the offensive zone, and scored a beautiful goal off a turnover in the first period.

Despite being on the ice for the Panthers’ only goal, Pinto’s line--which also included veterans David Perron and Michael Amadio—pushed the attackers to the perimeter all game and didn't allow any high danger chances against Bennett-Tkachuk-Verhaeghe, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. The plan looks to be for Pinto to grow into a shutdown centreman role.

“He’s a 200-foot player, he got size, he’s got hockey smarts,” said Green. “What I like about Pinto is he is eager to learn. He still has some upside in his game which is exciting.”

• The Senators have won their past five home openers. Cool stat, but it means nothing if they cannot translate it into better starts to their season. The team’s best record through the first 20 games since 2020-21 was 10-10-0 last season, which they immediately followed with a run of losses.

• Both Green and team captain Brady Tkachuk told Sportsnet.ca earlier this week that the Senators wanted to emulate the Florida Panthers. That means winning hard-nosed, tight checking, low-scoring games. The Senators blocked 27 shots against the Panthers Thursday and eked out an ugly win.

“We want to be comfortable with (2-1 games),” said Tkachuk after the win. “What’s most important is once we're comfortable with these types of games, I think anything that gets thrown at us, any adversity, I think we'll be able to handle it.”