The following day, Ullmark didn’t expect to get the start in net on the second half of a back-to-back for the Senators. It was Anton Forsberg who got the nod, but a minor injury during pregame warmup made him unable to play, which meant Ullmark was making his second start in as many nights.
While he may not have been expecting to play that night, he certainly seemed ready to go. Ullmark made several impressive saves throughout the night, including two highlight reel saves on Erik Karlsson and Sidney Crosby to help the Senators emerge victorious. Saving 25 of 27 shots, Ullmark recorded a 0.926% save percentage and a 1.94 goals against average.
Ullmark’s success isn’t limited only to this past week. Dating back to December 5, Ullmark is currently riding a five-game winning streak. The Swedish goaltender is just the fourth goalie in team history to have a five-game winning streak while allowing five goals or fewer during the span. Speaking of allowing goals, during his five-game streak Ullmark has not allowed a single goal during the first two periods of all five games, saving all 95 shots he has faced during the first 40 minutes of each game.
Being named the NHL’s third star of the week is a well-deserved honour for Ullmark, and certainly won’t be the skilled goaltender’s last. Calm, cool and collected, having a player like Linus Ullmark in net is a game changer.
