Ullmark not expected to travel with Senators on 5-game road trip

Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green announced Friday that goalie Linus Ullmark "probably won't" accompany the team on its upcoming five-game road trip, according to the "Coming in Hot" podcast.

Ullmark exited Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers due to back tightness. He played the entire first period but was replaced by Leevi Merilainen to start the second frame.

Green added that Ullmark is still not good enough to skate.

Usual backup Anton Forsberg has been unavailable since suffering an injury during warmup Dec. 14, but Green expects him to travel.

Ullmark won his last seven appearances before getting hurt and rocked a .967 save percentage and 0.99 goals-against average over that span.

The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner now owns a .915 clip in 23 appearances on the season.

Green emphasized that Ottawa must stay the course even with Ullmark unavailable.

"Our mindset's not gonna change with who's in goal," he explained. "We don't all of a sudden say, 'Linus is in net, let's play run-and-gun hockey,' or, 'He's not in net, let's play real defensive hockey.' We want to play a good 200-foot game no matter who's playing goal for us."

The Senators' road trip includes two back-to-backs. They will face the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, the Dallas Stars on Thursday, the St. Louis Blues on Friday, and the Detroit Red Wings next Tuesday.

Ottawa won eight of its last 10 games heading into the holiday break. The club currently sits in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with an 18-14-2 record.