Senators lose goalie Linus Ullmark, and game against Oilers

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OILERS 3, SENATORS 1

The Ottawa Senators suffered two big losses on Sunday night.

One before the final buzzer sounded, and another on the scoreboard.

Not only did the Senators see their six-game winning streak halted with a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place, top goaltender Linus Ullmark is out indefinitely because of an upper-body injury.

“His back tightened up so we felt that it was best that he came out,” coach Travis Green told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson.

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After allowing one goal on seven shots in the first period, Ullmark didn’t return for the second period. That meant rookie Leevi Merilainen had to take over and finish the game.

Merilainen was less than 24 hours removed from his first NHL win in the club’s 5-4 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

“He’s super calm back there,” winger Nick Cousins told TSN’s Kenzie Lalonde after the second period. “He has given us a chance with some big saves for us. We’ve got to do a better job in front of him.

“The last 48 hours have been pretty crazy for him, but he’s handled himself well.”

Only Cousins was able to beat Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner on the 21 shots he faced.

GOALIE ISSUES

After being given a break Saturday, Ullmark had returned for his eighth start in the club’s last 10 games.

He came into this one with an 8-0-1 record in his last nine starts with a .960 save percentage and a 1.43 goals-against average. Those numbers are a big reason the Senators have returned to the playoff race.

Ullmark missed five games earlier in the year because of an undisclosed ailment.

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The club already is without backup Anton Forsberg, and if both are out for any length of time, that’s going to present a huge challenge when the Senators resume regular-season play on Saturday in Winnipeg.

Ullmark didn’t even sit on the bench as the backup, but the Senators do have a six-day break in the schedule.

A DIFFICULT TEST

This was a game between two of the National Hockey League’s hottest teams heading into the break. The Senators had the opportunity to see how they measure up against one of the league’s best.

“It’s frustrating. Especially the way we’ve been playing but this was a hard back-to-back facing this team. They’re very talented so you’ve got to give them credit,” said alternate captain Thomas Chabot.

The Oilers had posted a 14-4-1 record in their last 19 games.

The Senators have had their share of difficulties with the Oilers, and had only three victories in the last 10 games against Edmonton.

Connor McDavid came into this one with 13 goals and 45 points in 25 career games against the Senators. Leon Draisaitl had 17 goals and 37 points in the same stretch versus Ottawa.

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Senators winger Ridly Greig took a double-minor for high-sticking late in the second period. The penalty extended 25 seconds into the third period, and while the Senators did a solid job killing off the double-minor, Adam Henrique stretched Edmonton’s lead to 3-1 just moments after the penalty expired at 1:38 of the third period.

Zach Hyman extended his goal-scoring streak to six games with his 13th goal of the season. His power-play effort after being left alone in front gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead with 4:55 left In the second period.

Cousins tied it 1-1 only 25 seconds into the second period. He went top shelf for his third goal of the season.

On the opening goal, at 14:26 of the first period, McDavid made a perfect feed to Viktor Arvidsson going to the net.

TAKE A BREAK

This visit to Edmonton closed out the first portion of the Senators’ nine-game road trip, a result of the 2025 IIHF world junior championship in Ottawa.

After the game, the Senators went their separate ways for the National Hockey League holiday break. They are expected to meet in Winnipeg on Friday to prepare to face the Jets on Saturday.

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The Senators won’t play at home again until Jan. 9, and the club went into this game trying to win four straight to start a long road trip for the first time since they completed the feat Feb. 16, 2009.

Ottawa started the trip with victories in Seattle (3-0) on Tuesday, Calgary (3-2) in OT on Thursday and Saturday in Vancouver.

The club was without winger Michael Amadio after he took an elbow to the head from David Desharnais against the Canucks. Amadio is in concussion protocol and there wasn’t an update.

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