Ullmark takes blame: Sens would have won with 'capable goalie' in net

Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark didn't have kind words for his own performance following Friday's 6-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

"If they had a capable goalie in there today, they would have won 4-3, I would say," he said.

"It was way too sloppy (for) this league," the veteran continued. "This is the type of game where you have to rely on your goaltender to shut the door as well and not let in those two at the end (which) caused us to lose the game.

"I take it upon myself. It's what I do, I never try to put any blame on anyone else. They try their very best out there in front of me and then it's my job to make the saves when it's needed."

The Senators held a 4-3 lead heading into the third period, but things fell apart with three minutes remaining in the game. Nick Cousins took an interference penalty and Tomas Hertl capitalized on the opportunity, scoring the equalizer in the final seconds of the power play.

Keegan Kolesar gave Vegas the lead one minute later, and Ivan Barbashev iced the contest with an empty-netter.

Ullmark made 22 saves on 27 shots and allowed 2.82 goals above expected at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The 31-year-old was out of action for the previous four games because of a strain and conceded that rust impacted Friday's performance "to some degree."

"I'm not gonna come with any excuses," Ullmark said. "I've played this game for too long to have those excuses. ... It stinks. That's all I've gotta say. It's one of those games where you really felt that we deserved to win that one."

Senators head coach Travis Green thought his star goalie was being a little too harsh on himself.

"I don't know about that," the bench boss said when told that Ullmark felt responsible for the loss. "You want your goalie to feel like he can win the game for you. I don't think he needed to win the game for us. We made a couple mistakes, probably that we'd like to have back."

Ottawa is now 4-3-0 on the season with a clash against the surging Avalanche in Colorado on deck. Ullmark is excited about having the chance to rebound Sunday.

"It's gonna be fun," he said Friday. "That's the thing, that's the beauty of this league. There's 82 games, you don't really have time to dwell about the past. I'll be pissed off today but then tomorrow, I hope the sun is going to shine in Denver."

Ullmark has posted a 1-2-0 record to kick off his Senators tenure to go along with an .882 save percentage and 3.44 goals against average. Ottawa inked him to a four-year, $33-million extension the day before its season opener.