Travis Green trying to keep Senators focus on the ice: ‘Obviously there’s a lot of talk right now’
Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green is trying to keep his team’s focus on the ice as the club continues to fight for a playoff spot.
Green admitted there has been “a lot of talk” recently with the status of Linus Ullmark in question as well as the future of Brady Tkachuk after his father, Hall of Famer Keith Tkachuk, was critical of the team on sons’ Wingmen podcast this week.
Green said he would be not commenting on why Ullmark made himself unavailable for Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Green told reporters Thursday. “I don’t have to talk about injuries. I don’t have to talk about any of that. He needed a rest and that’s fine. My only concern is getting our team to play, standing behind our players, and I know how good of a team we are when we play and don’t listen to the white noise and don’t let any of that creep into our room.
“Obviously there’s a lot of talk right now.”
Brady Tkachuk & Linus Ullmark were both requested to speak with the media ahead of tonight’s game vs Buffalo but were not available according to the #Sens.
— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) April 2, 2026
Green reiterated his comments from Saturday, that he would like to play Ullmark as much as possible down the stretch.
“I pretty well stand by what I said. I want him to play every night,” Green stated. “He’s our No. 1 goalie. He’s been playing well since he came back. But in saying that, everyone in the room understands that it’s been a bit of a rough year for him on the ice, off the ice. I think since he’s come back from his leave he’s played well. I don’t know what our record is since then and he needed a rest. As simple as that. There’s not a lot else to say about it. He needed a rest and he didn’t play that night. We’re going to have to win some games with Reims in net too and we have before.”
Ullmark is slated to start Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, who will be hoping to bounce back after allowing five goals in less than 15 minutes against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
“Easy, he’s our guy,” Green said of turning back to Ullmark. “To be honest, last game, I mean I pulled him but I pulled him more because the team was so s—-y. Not because of him.”
The 32-year-old has a 23-11-8 record this season with 2.85 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage. He returned to play in late January after a month-long leave of absence to focus on his mental health.
The Senators enter Thursday’s game sitting two points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot with one game in hand. The Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers are tied with Ottawa at 86 points also through 74 games. The Washington Capitals are just behind the three teams with 85 points through 75 games.
Ottawa will be without top defenceman Jake Sanderson once again on Thursday as he continues to recover from an upper-body injury.
Lines at #Sens morning skate ahead of their game vs Buffalo. Ottawa has 8 games left in the regular season.
Zetterlund-Stützle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Cozens-Greig
Giroux-Pinto-Amadio
Foegele-Eller-Cousins
Kleven-Zub
Matinpalo-Spence
Thomson-Crotty
Ullmark
Reimer
— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) April 2, 2026
Viewers in the Senators region can watch Thursday’s game against the Wild LIVE on TSN5 at 7 p.m. E.T.
