With their backs up against the wall for the second straight game, the Ottawa Senators needed Linus Ullmark to stand tall and shut the door on the聽Maple Leafs in Game 5.
The goaltender did just that Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena, shutting out the Leafs in聽a 4-0 Senators victory that鈥檒l send the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series back to Ottawa.
Moments after stopping all 29 shots he faced in a must-win game 鈥 his best performance in a series where he’s struggled at times 鈥 Ullmark was already looking ahead to Game 6.
鈥淲e can’t be satisfied with the way that we played tonight,鈥 he said. “We can enjoy that we had the results with us tonight, but then there’s a new game. It’s Game 6, we gotta do it all over again.”聽
With the Senators right back in the series, the ghosts and goblins of playoffs past are creeping from the shadows to begin to haunt the Maple Leafs.
With the Senators right back in the series, the ghosts and goblins of playoffs past are creeping from the shadows to begin to haunt the Maple Leafs.
The Senators netminder had to be on his toes throughout Game 5. He made key saves on some of the Leafs’ top scorers. John Tavares and Matthew Knies were both denied on first-period breakaways, Mitch Marner was robbed in tight in the second and he stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third.
“You gotta earn it,” Ullmark said. “You can’t get too high and think it’s going to be an easy task ahead of you, and also, if you’re losing and you’re down, you can’t get too low and think it’s just going to be over.”聽
After a shaky Game 1 in which he was tagged for six goals, Senators head coach Travis Green was resolute in his support of his goaltender, insisting that Ullmark鈥檚 reputation preceded him and that goaltending was not an issue for his team as they worked to come back from an early deficit.聽
With Ullmark鈥檚 first-career playoff shutout in the books, Green said that the former Vezina Trophy-winner’s performance was unsurprising after a regular season in which he posted a .909 save percentage.
鈥淚 feel like I’ve been talking about Linus a lot this series and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and rightfully so,鈥 Green said.
Follow the Star’s live blog聽throughout Game 5 between the聽Maple Leafs聽and Ottawa Senators as the action unfolds.
Follow the Star’s live blog聽throughout Game 5 between the聽Maple Leafs聽and Ottawa Senators as the action unfolds.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk echoed his team’s confidence in Ullmark, calling the 31-year-old resilient and the team’s best player in Game 5.
鈥淚t starts with him and he’s a leader in that way,鈥 said Tkachuk, who tallied three points. “It just shows that with our backs up against the wall that his true self comes out and his confidence gives us so much confidence in front of him.”聽
With momentum after back-to-back victories, the Senators will head back to the Canadian Tire Centre for Game 6 Thursday, where they played to a 27-11-3 home record during the regular season.
In the meantime, Ullmark said that he won’t be reading much media coverage of the playoffs, at least as it pertains to the series at hand.聽
“It’s something that I’ve learned throughout my career that it doesn’t really matter what you guys say or anything like that,” Ullmark said. “It’s all about what’s being said in the locker room and what we need to be doing.”聽
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