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It’s a similar situation to the criticism Ullmark faced in the playoffs last season. Despite several defensive collapses and bad puck movement, the blame unfairly fell on the Senators’ goalie, who wasn’t able to make a save when he was given so little support. Thankfully, the team’s struggles got better as the series wore on, and Ullmark was able to push the Maple Leafs to six games before being eliminated. So far, the Senators have been good at limiting shots against, averaging the third-lowest shots against per game at 24.7 this season. But their penchant to allow high-danger chances has cost them. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Senators have allowed 72 high-danger chances on 170 scoring chances at 5-on-5, which only improves slightly when looking at all matchups. That’s over 40% of all scoring chances against, and even though Ullmark has been an average goalie at high danger chances, he’s not been given a lot of chances to succeed. Ullmark’s Mental Health Struggles Ullmark has always been incredibly critical of his game. He’s been open about his mental health struggles, sharing during Bell’s Let’s Talk Day in January 2025, “Day to day, I’m still, not fighting it, but I’m working on it, every single day.” There was a moment when he was still in Sweden and felt so alone, especially when thinking back to his dad, who was going through similar feelings back home. Those feelings came back when he couldn’t attend his father’s funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s possible those feelings resurfaced during the preseason. After letting in three goals on five shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ullmark was very blunt about his performance. “I thought it was a pretty terrible showing today,” he said after the preseason game. “Sometimes you’re the best one out there and sometimes you’re not.” Ullmark finished the 2025-26 preseason with a .874 SV% over two games, which is well below league average, but his numbers were on par with Adin Hill, Sam Montembault, John Gibson, and Connor Hellebuyck. Nothing to worry about. But it looked to only get worse as the season started. After losing 5-4 to the Islanders, Ullmark was again highly critical of his play. “I am not pleased with how many goals have gone in,” Ullmark said after the loss. “At the end of the day, what mattered for me, though, was that I let in the fifth (goal) with one minute left on that play where I kind of screwed up.” While the honesty is refreshing from a goalie about the goals he allowed, Ullmark’s issues seemed to be more than taking the occasional allowed goal very hard. There wasn’t anything in particular he was doing that was leading to all these goals; he just wasn’t himself. “It’s hard to say, really. I don’t really feel like I can complain about one thing,” he said after the Islanders game. “It’s all about creating good habits for myself, going out there with an intent to battle my utmost and don’t give up on the puck. And once I do things well, all these reps will come bearing fruit at the end of the day.” Hockey is a highly mental game, and goaltending can be especially lonely. One bad game can have long-lasting effects, and with Ullmark being especially sensitive to those changes, his early struggles may have bled into the regular season. The Senators Thrive When They Play as a Unit One thing that every player notices about the Senators when they first arrive is how close all the players are to each other. The young core has practically grown up with each other, giving them a lot more chemistry both on and off the ice. It’s why Ullmark jumped into the scrum against the Capitals. “It’s more about showing up for the guys and showing your presence,” he said after the game. “It’s just what the situation developed into.”
