The Ottawa Senators were in dire straits when it came to their goaltending situation. Starter Linus Ullmark recently stepped away to deal with some mental issues, and young backup Leevi Merilainen wasn’t ready to replace him.
Enter 16-year veteran James Reimer.
The 37-year-old former Toronto Maple Leafs netminder is expected to make his sixth start as Ottawa concludes a four-game homestand against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
Reimer, who split 24 games between Anaheim and Buffalo last season, was recently signed to offer some stability at a position that has been severely lacking it as the Senators look to make a run to the postseason.
In five starts, Reimer has posted a 2-2-1 record and stopped 103 shots, including 16 saves in a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, who currently lead the NHL with 79 points, on Wednesday.
A tight, one-goal contest became comfortable with late empty-netters from Tim Stutzle (one goal, one assist) and Brady Tkachuk. That gives the Sens a brief, two-goal win streak following a 7-1 victory over the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
“Yeah, that was a complete game again. Back-to-back games where we played really well… didn’t give up a lot,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said afterward. “Not only did we win, but we, you know, we controlled a lot of the game.”
The Devils come in with defenseman Dougie Hamilton on a 10-game points streak, the longest for a blueliner this season, and tied for the longest current streak in the NHL.
He scored in the second period Thursday night against Nashville, but it was Nico Hischier with the most noteworthy tally of the night. He netted his team-high 18th goal on a slap shot 42 seconds into overtime as the Devils stopped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Predators.
Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for New Jersey, which overcame a one-goal deficit twice in the resilient triumph.
“Down a man, I liked how we stayed with it. We could have packed it in once they scored early in the third, but we didn’t do that,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe told his team in a locker room talk after the game. “Loved our fight; loved how we competed.”
New Jersey’s Jack Hughes is still being evaluated for a lower-body injury sustained against the Predators.
“In the next little bit, he’s going to get some imaging and get a better idea of what’s happening,” Keefe said on Friday, NHL.com reported. “Until we have those results we won’t know his status in terms of travel and the situation going forward.”
New Jersey also has been without center Cody Glass (lower-body injury), who was hit by a shot against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and missed Thursday’s game against Nashville. He is questionable to play on Saturday against the host Senators.
The Devils, who knocked off the Senators in Ottawa last month, sport a 15-14 road record, but they have four of their past five games away from home. Ottawa is trying to go 3-1 on this homestand.
-Field Level Media
