Senators place Linus Ullmark on injured reserve

The Ottawa Senators picked up an emotional 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night, as they overcame an opening goal by their former captain, Brady Tkachuk, in his first appearance back at Canadian Tire Centre since requesting and being granted a trade over the summer.

It came at a cost, though, as starting goalie Linus Ullmark, off to a terrific start to his season, exited the game with a lower-body injury. On Thursday morning, the Senators announced that they have placed the veteran goalie on injured reserve.

With the Senators holding a 3-1 lead early in the third period, Ullmark left the game after receiving attention from a member of Ottawa’s training staff. Backup Samuel Ersson took over for the remainder of the game, and he was only tasked with facing one shot, as the Sens cruised to the 5-1 victory.

Ullmark turned aside 17 of the 18 shots he faced in an effort that continued his spectacular run of play to begin the new year. After struggling for most of the 2025-26 campaign, Ullmark ran his record to 7-1-0, improved his save percentage to .945, and now owns a goals against average of 1.33. Those numbers are more than good enough to have him in the earliest stages of the conversation for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie.

For as long as Ullmark is sidelined, the burden of starting will fall on Ersson, who Ottawa obtained this offseason after a tough year with the Philadelphia Flyers. Ersson’s struggles have persisted into the early stages of this season, as he’s gone 0-2 with a .831 SV% and 4.70 GAA.

To take Ullmark’s roster spot and serve as a backup to Ersson, the Senators announced that they have called up Jonas Johansson, who they acquired in an offseason trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning.