Senators' Linus Ullmark breaks silence on brutal Game 1 outing vs. Maple Leafs |
04/20/2025 08:33 PM -
The Ottawa Senators lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series. After a seven-year postseason drought, Ottawa suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of their biggest rivals. The series is far from over, but the Sens put themselves in a deep hole on Sunday. Senators goalie Linus Ullmark spoke to TSN reporter Bruce Garrioch about his mindset moving forward.
“There is nothing we can do about it right now. We have to focus on the next one,” Ullmark told Garrioch.
This is far from Ullmark’s first playoff experience. He was in the net for the Boston Bruins when they lost Game 2 of the first round last year. He ceded the net back to Jeremy Swayman until a mid-game replacement in Game 2 against Florida in the second round, which Boston lost 6-1. In ten playoff starts, Ullmark is now 3-7.
The Senators may have a veteran goalie, but their team is built around a young core assembled in the last seven years. Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson, Tim Stutzle, and Ridly Greig are just a few of the players who played in their first playoff game Sunday. Ullmark knows that his role is to be the sturdy veteran while the youngsters find their sea legs. That is not what happened on Sunday.
The Senators need better goaltending to beat the Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs used Anthony Stolarz in the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and may use Joseph Woll later. But the Senators won’t be switching goalies anytime soon. They traded for and paid Linus Ullmark for these games, and he is going to get them in this series.
There wasn’t much that Ullmark could do on a few goals, namely Mitch Marner’s breakaway tally to make it 2-0. But there were other goals, like Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s game-opener, that could have been stopped. The Senators likely need every save they can get and some to beat the Maple Leafs.
Toronto has had its playoff struggles in recent years, which have been well documented. But the Senators have never been the team to beat them, and this Leafs core has never won a division title. Those facts combined should help this group get through the first round, which has provided the most problems.
The Maple Leafs put their 1-0 series lead on the line against the Senators on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
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