Why Didn't The Ottawa Senators Roll With Linus Ullmark In A Back-to-Back Situation On Sunday?

Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark seems to finally be settling in nicely.

After signing his big new extension in October, the Sens newcomer struggled out of the gate, which, in hindsight, shouldn't have been a huge surprise. Ullmark had just uprooted his life to come to Ottawa, where everything—personally and professionally—is new. His massive $8.25 million-a-year extension was a lot for any goalie to live up to, but Ullmark had the extra burden of being the man expected to shed Ottawa’s "goalie graveyard" tag.

That’s a lot.

But if his last four games are any indication, things have calmed down for Ullmark, and he seems to be adjusting to his new normal.

Linus Ullmark's Last Four Games

After the victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, Senators fans wondered if head coach Travis Green would go with Ullmark again on Sunday in a back-to-back situation against the New York Islanders. The Islanders were one point ahead of the Sens in the Eastern standings, so why not go with the goalie who gives you the best chance to win?

But Green opted to go with backup Anton Forsberg, whose last four games had been a little different.

Anton Forsberg's Past Four Games

Forsberg went out on Sunday and made those previous four games look Vezina-worthy by comparison. He allowed three goals on just 13 shots, good for a .750 save percentage, as the Sens fell 4-2 to the Islanders.

Meanwhile, the Islanders were playing in a back-to-back too, and head coach Patrick Roy—a Hall of Fame goalie—went his own way, starting his best goalie for a second straight day. Ilya Sorokin was outstanding, the difference in the game.

Ottawa’s armchair GMs and Monday morning quarterbacks had a field day on social media. If Ullmark had started, they surmised, the Sens probably would have won that game. And they may be right.

But if Semyon Varlamov were available to Roy, there’s a good chance he would have given Sorokin the night off. Varlamov got hurt last week and was replaced by former Senator Marcus Hogberg. As with the Ullmark example, Hogberg would have had a lot on his mind if he’d gotten into that game in Ottawa.

Hogberg hadn’t started an NHL game in three and a half years. That would be emotional enough, but to ask him to do it against his old team in Ottawa might have been a bit much. Roy opted to lean on Sorokin again, and it paid off.

The stats say that teams generally fare better in a back-to-back if they don’t start the same goalie in both games. You also help keep your star goalie healthy if you don’t physically overtax him. There are always going to be outliers and exceptions, of course, particularly in unique situations like the Islanders had on Sunday.

Travis Green made the sensible decision. His backup has to be ready to step up, particularly in a season where the starter has already been dogged by nagging injuries that he absolutely does not want resurfacing.

And if the backup repeatedly shows that he can’t step up, you don’t change sensible, proven policies—you change your backup.

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