Green: Sens G Ullmark was 'not his best' in OT loss to Flyers
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Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark struggled as his team fell to the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night.
The 31-year-old netminder allowed five goals on 19 shots, including rookie sensation Matvei Michkov's overtime winner on a sharp angle shot with 55 seconds remaining in the frame.
Ottawa appeared to dominate the Flyers at times on Thursday, peppering goalie Ivan Fedotov with 37 shots and creating significant time between opposing scoring chances.
However, the Flyers were able to take advantage of the few opportunities they did have for the victory.
"Not his best," Senators head coach Travis Green said of Ullmark after the game. " We've been playing well here for three games. You hate to lose a game like that where you dominated in a lot of areas for most of the night. Tough game for Linus as far as he's got seven shots after, I don't know, like, 35 minutes. Those are not easy games for the goalie."
Ullmark came into Thursday's game having won his last two matchups, including a 27-save shutout performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-4 netminder has a 4-4-1 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and .890 save percentage and missed five games with a strain earlier this season.
This is Ullmark's first season with the Senators after he was acquired from the Boston Bruins in exchange for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic, and a draft pick last June.
"Some unfortunate goals that I'd like to have back, but I thought we battled through, and I think we deserved two points tonight," Ullmark said after the loss. "[I went down] thinking the hole is closed off, and for some unknown reason [Michkov's shot] goes in. I can't tell you how it goes in or why it goes in. Probably, if I were to do that 100 more times, I would do exactly the same thing. So, I was just as shocked as everybody else in the building that it actually went in."
Despite the win, Flyers head coach John Tortorella was critical of his team and acted shocked at the result.
"It's the National Hockey League at its best," said Tortorella. "You play as bad as we did and then come out a winner. I just... have no idea."
Next up for Ottawa is a road game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night before they begin a four-game homestand beginning on Tuesday against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, which can be seen LIVE on TSN5 by viewers in the Senators' region at 7:00 p.m. ET.