Senators’ Goalie Shuffle: Johansson Keeps Them in the Fight

There’s something to be said for a goaltender who gives his team a chance, even when the final score offers little encouragement. Jonas Johansson did that for the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, stopping 25 of 27 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The two empty-net goals make the score look a little worse than Johansson’s performance deserved. He kept Ottawa within reach long enough for a chance, but they couldn’t turn it into a result.

For the Senators, Johansson’s play matters more than it might seem.

With Linus Ullmark sidelined by a lower-body injury, Johansson has an opportunity to show what he can do with a little more responsibility. Through two appearances this season, he has allowed six goals on 55 shots. That’s a decent start, even if two games aren't enough to draw any firm conclusions. The challenge now is to keep it going.

Goaltending depth rarely gets much attention when a team has its regular starter available. It becomes a different story when that starter is injured, and the schedule keeps coming. Ottawa’s road trip leaves little room to catch its breath. The Senators visit Los Angeles on Thursday, then face San Jose on Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday. With three games in four nights, Johansson and Samuel Ersson could both have important roles.

That’s where a performance like Tuesday’s can help. Johansson didn't steal a win, but he gave his teammates a chance to compete. That has value, especially when a club is trying to navigate an injury without letting it derail its plans. Of course, the Senators need more than respectable goaltending. They need to find ways to turn close games into points. Still, a backup who can keep things manageable gives the team a better chance of doing exactly that.

What This Means for the Senators.

Nobody should expect Johansson to replace Ullmark's importance to the club overnight. Nor should two appearances be treated as proof that Ottawa has solved its goaltending concerns. But these solid stretches can reveal something useful about a team's depth. Injuries are inevitable over an NHL season, and the clubs that handle them best often have someone ready to step in without making every game feel like an emergency.

Johansson has made a reasonable start. The next three games will offer another test, and Ottawa will need its goaltenders to share the workload intelligently. For Senators fans, the encouraging part isn't the loss. It's that Johansson gave his team a chance to win. Now the Senators need to find a way to reward that effort at the other end of the ice.