Danny McCloskey
The Carter Yakemchuk era officially began last night! Talk about a great debut. Yakemchuk played 12:46, assisted on the first goal of the game, and scored the next as the Senators won 3-2 against the Red Wings. Let’s dive into the details on Carter Yakemchuk, and the Senators incredible back-to-back wins!
Yakemchuk’s Strong Debut
Just over a week ago, I wrote about Yakemchuk’s progress in the AHL this season. For the most part, it’s been a successful year, with Yakemchuk now up to 10 goals and 36 points in 50 games. On the downside, he was a team worst -30. The following sentence was in my article: “It’s unlikely that Yakemchuk receives his NHL opportunity this season.” The organization seemed committed to having him play the full season in the AHL. Well, low and behold, the Senators have been ravaged by injuries, forcing Yakemchuk in the lineup for his first ever NHL game in the middle of a playoff push against a rival team. No pressure, right?
Credit is due to Travis Green here. He made sure not overwhelm Yakemchuk, or fellow rookie Jorian Donovan. Donovan played just 4:42, which makes sense when you consider that not only was it his first NHL game as well, but he was also out the last couple of weeks in Belleville due to injury.
Yakemchuk, meanwhile, played 21 shifts. 1:22 of that came on the power play, where he registered his fancy, between the legs assist. At 5 on 5, 50% of his shifts started in the offensive zone. Here are the other d-men’s offensive zone starts at 5 on 5 from last night by comparison:
- Kleven: 29%
- Zub: 24%
- Spence: 18%
- Matinpalo: 0%
Kleven and Zub were asked to kill over 5 minutes of penalties. Yakemchuk was not used on the penalty kill. In terms of setting up a young offensive d-man to success, this is exactly how to do it. From there of course, it was up to Yakemchuk to play well, which of course he did.
Best Senators Back-to-Back Ever?
I won’t pretend to know every Sens back-to-back ever. Here’s what I do know. This was quite the challenge given that the Senators played both games on the road. To make matters worse, they played both games without their best defenseman, Jake Sanderson. It doesn’t end there, though!
In their win against the Rangers, they played the second half of the game with just four defensemen. They lost their new number one, Thomas Chabot, late in the first. Then they lost Lassi Thomson in the second. Despite this, they gave up just 10 shots for the entire game.
In game two last night in Detroit, they were now without Sanderson, Chabot, Jensen, Gilbert, and Thomson on the back-end. Donovan played under five minutes, leaving Kleven as their only regular left shot d-man. They found a way to win 3-2, earning them an incredible 2-0 record in one of the greatest back-to-backs in team history.
Linus Ullmark Stands Tall
Let’s face it, given how the cards were stacked against them, the Senators needed Ullmark to play great. That’s exactly what he did last night. He saved 33 of the 35 shots he faced, including some incredible saves late to keep the one goal lead. This is the most saves Ullmark has made in a game all season.
It feels as though his struggles are now behind him. Since returning from his leave of absence in late January, Ullmark has gone 9-2-2 with a .902 SV%. That’s not an elite SV% by any means, but it’s important to note that the Senators limit shots better than any team in the NHL. His 2.31 GAA in that time ranks fifth best of all goalies with at least 10 games played during that time. If he can provide that type of goaltending down the stretch, the Senators have a great chance to be back in the playoffs for the second straight year.
The Senators can’t bask in their great back-to-back wins for too long. They play another huge game tomorrow night, back at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
