Ullmark returns to practice; big weekend on tap for Sens

The Ottawa Senators’ practice had a livelier atmosphere than normal on Friday morning at Bell Sensplex.

A combination of back-to-back wins, a children’s tournament at the multi-pad complex bringing young spectators, and most of all, Linus Ullmark’s first skate with the team since being granted a leave of absence on Dec. 28 brought a perfect storm of cheer to the practice facility.

“It’s great, it’s great seeing him back on the ice. Obviously he’s been skating a little bit, but just to be back with the team, I think it’s a big step in the right direction,” said Thomas Chabot after practice.

“We’re happy to have him back on the ice. Just to see him, just to have him around again has been great, added the defenceman. “Yes, [being on] the ice is great, but just to see him around the locker room and have him around the team is great. He’s an amazing guy and it’s fun to have him around with the team, so we’re just happy that he’s there.”

Travis Green had no timeline for when the netminder could appear in a game again and said both the coaching staff and Ullmark were aligned to take that day-by-day. Ullmark’s return made it three goalies on the ice at practice, along with Leevi Meriläinen — who has appeared in 10 straight games — and midseason free agent addition James Reimer.

Four-point games ahead

For the second time this week, the Senators will play a home game and then fly after the game to their next destination. This time, they welcome Montreal on Saturday night before departing for Detroit.

With both the Canadiens and Red Wings ahead of the Senators in the Atlantic Division standings, the weekend marks two crucial games for getting back in a playoff position. The Senators will look to carry the momentum of two straight wins into the third of four total back-to-backs in the month.

“We’re trying to climb back, obviously, in the standings, and every win we get, we seem to see the other teams keep on winning,” said David Perron. “So obviously, we’ve got to do our part. Over a stretch of 10 games, if the other teams are going to win seven out of 10, we’re going to win eight. So that’s kind of our mentality right now.”

Perron alluded to it, and Chabot didn’t deny looking at the standings throughout the season. Ottawa sits five points back of Boston for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference — and with five teams to leapfrog — though they have two games in hand over the Bruins.

“Yeah, I look at it. I mean, it’s tight. I know what we’ve got in here and I know what we’re capable of. Obviously I don’t spend four hours a day looking at them, but I do take a peek at them every morning coming into the rink,” said Chabot.

“So no, we know what we have to do and what we’re up against, but the last two games that we’ve been playing, we came back to do what we do and played our style of hockey, and I know we’ll keep doing [that].”

As if a meaningful game against Montreal needed any further fanfare, the first test this weekend doubles as the main event during the Canadian Tire Centre’s 30th anniversary weekend.

“Yeah, for sure, it’ll be a fun game,” said Chabot. “Fun atmosphere tomorrow in the building, lots of energy and the games are always tight games, and lots of emotion in the games. Those are the games you circle on your calendar and look forward to.”

Asked if he had any favourite memories in the building over his 10 years with the organization, he pointed to the team’s first playoff game in nine years last spring, and his first game with the Senators, which came on Oct. 18, 2016, after the defenceman made the team out of training camp before being reassigned to the QMJHL.

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