Ullmark leading Senators with dream-like start to season

OTTAWA – Linus Ullmark?

More like Wall-mark. 

Through the first fortnight of the 2026-27 NHL season, the Ottawa Senators' No. 1 goaltender is flashing the form that won him a Vezina four seasons ago. 

And the squad in front of him is thankful for that. 

“He’s so big, he takes away the whole net and it’s pretty awesome,” Tim Stutzle said after one of Ullmark’s recent starts, a shootout triumph against the Nashville Predators. 

“When he’s on his game, we have a chance to win every night.”

Now, the Senators have won every night that Ullmark has started this season, with the Swede sporting a sparkling 5-0-0 record. So far, he is just the third Ottawa goalie to start a regular season with at least five straight wins, joining Ray Emery and Dominik Hasek in 2005-06 when that duo went 6-0-0 and 5-0-0, respectively. 

Dating back to last season, Ullmark has won nine straight regular-season contests — tying for the longest such streak in franchise history. The last to do it was Andrew Hammond in 2015.

Ullmark’s record will be put to the test Thursday night versus the New York Islanders after the Senators suffered their second loss of the season Tuesday — a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the St. Louis Blues, with backup Samuel Ersson between the pipes. 

This is the second time in Ullmark’s career he’s won at least his first five decisions. His best run to begin a season in his career came in 2022-23 when he went 8-0-0 en route to winning the Vezina. 

Now, Ullmark is the first to admit that his personal statistical effort is not something he’s concerned about — he only cares about wins. But kudos to Ullmark thus far, because he’s been the star of the squad. 

First in the league in goals saved above expected (per MoneyPuck), second in save percentage and third in goals-against average. 

He’s dialled. 

“He’s always been sick,” Shane Pinto said last week. “He’s won a Vezina. We know how hard it is to do. We know the talent level he has. We know we have his back. He’s in a good place and it’s good to see.” 

That was, of course, one of the bigger queries heading into the season. A simple one with a complicated answer. 

Linus Ullmark, how are you? 

Turns out, he’s doing quite well after last year, when he took more than a month-long leave of absence due to mental health. Panic problems, he said, which came to a head on Dec. 27 versus Toronto. He was “very scared,” he admitted in a wide-ranging interview, and called Dr. Joel Gold of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program almost immediately. A plan was put in place. Although things are not, of course, linear when it comes to mental health, Ullmark seems to be on a happy hill. It’s good to see.  

Since returning from that leave of absence, Ullmark has 19 regular-season wins — first in the NHL in that timeframe. His GAA and save percentage are also both third in the league through that stretch. 

Having a constant support system around can’t be ignored as a solid reason for why Ullmark is off to a fine start so far both physically and mentally, as he’s got long-time pal Maciej Szwoch officially on the staff.

Szwoch, whose title with the Senators is coordinator of goaltending scouting and development, met Ullmark when he was a teenager. They’ve been close ever since. He was added as a consultant last year and officially signed to the team in the off-season. 

Szwoch, instead of Justin Peters — the Senators’ goalie coach — trained with Ullmark in the summertime in Sweden. A much easier logistical effort and, well, who doesn’t want to work alongside their friend? 

“(It’s good not to) start the camp being a minus and work through positives and not feeling like you have to catch up,” Ullmark said in September while training camp was just underway.  

Ullmark is one big part of the Swedish house mafia on the Senators, alongside nearly a half-dozen countrymen, including Ullmark’s backup, Ersson. The duo met at the 4 Nations Face-Off and, through September, became fast friends.

Funny enough, when Ullmark was first introduced to the Ottawa media after the trade that brought him to the Senators from Boston, one question was on everyone’s mind: Would he bring the viral bear-hug celebration to his new team? Of course not, he said at the time, since it was just he and Jeremy Swayman’s thing. 

But.

“There’s always celebrations after winning games, so we’ll see what happens. Maybe there will be a dab or something,” Ullmark said then. 

The dab celebration is indeed how he and Ersson celebrate their wins. Ullmark’s had it in his back pocket for almost three seasons. He’s already done it lots in 2026-27. 

“I don’t really care about my start to the season,” Ullmark said Monday after his last win against New Jersey. “I think it’s good that the guys have won a whole lot of games.” 

They have indeed, thanks to him. 

There is no hand hovering over a panic button after the big loss Tuesday versus the Blues — there are, after all, 77 games left in the season — but there are some obvious questions.

When will the Senators get their top defence pairing back? Soon, it sounds like, for Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub. Is Ersson a capable enough back-up, considering Ullmark has never played more than 49 games in his career? To be determined, but he’s only started twice. Can Stutzle continue his record-setting offensive output? Guy is a superstar. 

Regardless of all that’s happening out front of the crease, Ullmark is off to the kind of dream-like start that is making big believers out of many in the Senators’ orbit. 

“I don’t proclaim to be a goalie expert,” head coach Travis Green said in September. “I like the ones that stop the pucks and the ones that don’t, not as much.”

He’s had plenty to like so far from his starter.