Ullmark left streak-snapping loss to Oilers with back tightness
Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark suffered an upper-body injury during the first period of Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Head coach Travis Green revealed postgame that Ullmark's back had tightened up and the team "felt it was best he came out," per Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.
Ullmark played the entire frame and made six saves on seven shots before being replaced by Leevi Merilainen to start the second period. Ottawa announced that Ullmark wouldn't return to the contest soon after.
The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner had found his game of late, winning his last seven appearances while sporting a league-leading .967 save percentage and 0.99 goals against average over that span.
Ottawa won its last six games heading into Sunday's outing, and Ullmark was in net for all but one of them. Merilainen started Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks in the first half of a back-to-back.
Usual backup Anton Forsberg has been unavailable since suffering an injury in warmup on Dec. 14 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Senators acquired Ullmark from the Bruins in June in exchange for netminder Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic, and the 25th overall pick in the 2024 draft, which Boston used to draft forward Dean Letourneau.
Ottawa inked Ullmark to a four-year extension with an $8.25-million cap hit in October. It'll kick in during the 2025-26 campaign.
The 31-year-old owned a 12-7-2 record and a .916 clip on the season before getting injured in Edmonton.
The Senators don't play again until Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets.