The Ottawa Senators will be without their star goaltender in their final game before the NHL’s break for the Winter Olympics. Linus Ullmark will sit out due to flu-like sympyoms, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. The news comes just under an hour before puck drop. James Reimer will assume the starting role in Ullmark’s absence, while Hunter Shepard has been recalled to the NHL to serve as backup.
Reimer is back in the NHL after a mid-season professional try-out turned into a one-year contract with the Senators. He has recorded two wins and a .862 save percentage in six games with Ottawa, while adding another loss and .786 Sv% in his sole AHL game. Both numbers are far south from the 10 wins and .883 Sv% that Reimer recorded in 24 games last season – 22 spent with the Buffalo Sabres and two with the Anaheim Ducks. The 37 year old has continued to offer a presence in the crease, though he’ll still be a shaky hand to rely on as Ottawa looks to continue a 4-1 record over their last five games.
The Senators have only received marginally better play from de facto starter Ullmark. The former Vezina Trophy winner has posted 16 wins and a .884 save percentage in 30 games this season. It is his first year with a save percentage south of .900 – a feat he has curbed in each of his 10 other seasons in the league. That includes his first year with Ottawa last season, when Ullmark put up 25 wins and a .910 Sv% in 44 games. That was the seventh-highest save percentage from any NHL starter last season.
Shepard, who will serve as backup, has posted six wins and a .888 Sv% in 14 AHL games this season. He managed a .891 Sv% in 39 games with the Hershey Bears last season.
Such a late scratch should indicate that Ullmark will be good-to-go when Ottawa returns on February 26th. The Senators currently sit last in the Atlantic Division, though they’re tied with the Florida Panthers in total points (61). They are the only club in the bototm five of the Eastern Conference with a positive goal-differential (+6).