Senators set to lean on Sogaard as playoff push intensifies
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With goaltender Cam Talbot out for the next three weeks with an oblique strain, the Ottawa Senators will lean heavily on rookie Mads Sogaard as they attempt to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
With the veteran Talbot missing time due to injury for the third time this season, Sogaard will need to be a steady presence in net as the Senators attempt to catch the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference beginning Thursday night against the Seattle Kraken.
"We’ll keep grinding,” head coach D.J. Smith said Wednesday. “(Kevin Mandolese) has given us some good starts, but (Sogaard) will be the guy we run with here.”
The 22-year-old has started just seven NHL games this season, posting a 4-1-1 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and .902 save percentage. Sogaard was called up from the AHL’s Belleville Senators and named the backup after Anton Forsberg sustained two torn MCLs in early February.
Sogaard is coming off allowing five goals in a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in what turned out about his first start in the No. 1 role. He started that game Monday on short notice as Talbot was a late scratch prior to the game.
“I did have some time to prepare and to feel good,” Sogaard said of the loss. “To be honest, I think I did everything I could to prepare and feel good, but I didn’t play the way I need to play to be successful. That’s on me to make a couple of more saves for sure.
“I’m just looking forward to the next task.”
Sogaard was named the NHL’s rookie of the month in February after posting a 4-0-1 record with a .922 save percentage. He was originally selected in the second round (37th overall) by the Senators in the 2019 NHL Draft. In nine career games (eight starts) Sogaard has a 5-2-1 record with a 2.84 GAA and an .899 save percentage.
“I just have to do the small things every day and the things I need to do to be successful,” Sogaard said. “I can’t look too far ahead. I’m just going to do my best to help the team to win and put them in a situation to win games. That’s all we can do as goaltenders. I just have to make sure I’m as prepared as possible. When I do that, I can go out, play freely and just have fun.”
Despite the 5-0 loss on Monday, Sens’ captain Brady Tkachuk says the loss was not Sogaard’s fault and that the team must improve in front of their young goaltender.
"I told him throughout the game, 'None of this is your fault. We just completely [hurt] you,'" Tkachuk said of Sogaard. "Right from the start, the way we played, we completely left him out to dry. That's just never what we want to do as a team.
"All the boys we have, [they've] stood on their heads, made big saves and stole us games throughout this whole year. It's honestly unacceptable that we just leave him out to dry like that."
Playoff race heats up
The Senators (68 points) currently sit five points back of the Penguins (73 points) and six points back of the New York Islanders for the first Wild Card spot with 19 games remaining. The Florida Panthers are also chasing the final Wild Cards spot and sit two points ahead of Ottawa with 17 games remaining.
In a tight East playoff race, Ottawa (32-27-4) must also hold off the division-rival Buffalo Sabres and the Washington Capitals, who also have 68 points. The Detroit Red Wings are also in the race, sitting at 67 points with 18 games remaining.
Thursday's game against the Kraken is the second of a five-game western road trip where the Senators will also visit the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Edmonton Oilers.