Linus Ullmark Vezina Form: Senators Goalie Rolling Early

Linus Ullmark looks like a Vezina goalie again.

The Senators goalie made 29 saves Monday night in a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. That moved him to a .948 save percentage and a 1.27 goals-against average through five starts. Here are the numbers next to last season’s:

Last year was the first time in Ullmark’s career he finished under .900. He went 28-12-8 with an .891 and a 2.73 in 49 games, as we laid out this summer when Ottawa’s crease was the biggest question on the roster.

The early answer is a good one. Ottawa is 5-1-0 and has reached five wins in six games for just the third time in franchise history, per the NHL.com recap. Before Monday, Ullmark was 4-0-0 with a 1.34 and a .942.

Shane Pinto gave him an early cushion. He scored nine seconds into the second period:

New Jersey outshot Ottawa 14-3 in the third and Ullmark held the lead. The Devils thought they cut it to 3-1 when Jesper Boqvist scored, but the Senators won a coaches challenge for goaltender interference and the goal came off the board:

Arseny Gritsyuk finally beat him with a wrist shot at 14:59, the only puck to get by. Tyler Kleven added an empty-netter for the 4-1 final.

Pinto talked before the game about what Ullmark has meant to the room. “He’s always been sick, I’ve known that,” Pinto said. “He won a Vezina. To win a Vezina is not that easy to do and we know the talent level that he has.”

Ullmark won that Vezina with Boston in 2023, and the Senators needed that version of him badly. They are playing without Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub and William Eklund, and Nikolas Matinpalo left Monday’s game with an upper-body injury after Anthony Mantha’s boarding major.

Ottawa had a scare with Ullmark himself earlier this month when he left a game in Boston after a crease collision. He has not missed a beat since coming back.

Next up for the Senators is a home game against the St. Louis Blues.