The Carter Yakemchuk era officially began last night! Talk about a great start. Yakemchuk played 12:46, assisted on the first goal of the game and scored the next goal as the Senators won 3–2 against the Red Wings. Let's dive into the details of Carter Yakemchuk and the Senators' incredible back-to-back wins!
Yakemchuk's strong start
Just a week ago, I wrote about Yakemchuk's progress in the AHL this season. For the most part, it has been a successful year, with Yakemchuk now having 10 goals and 36 points in 50 games. The downside is that he was a team-worst -30. The following sentence was in my article: "It is unlikely that Yakemchuk will get his NHL opportunity this season." The organization seemed committed to having him play a full season in the AHL. Well, low and behold, the Senators have been ravaged by injuries, forcing Yakemchuk into the lineup for his first NHL game in the middle of a playoff push against a rival team. No pressure, right?
The credit for this goes to Travis Green. He made sure not to overshadow Yakemchuk or fellow rookie Jorian Donovan. Donovan only played 4:42, which makes sense when you consider that not only was this his first NHL game, but he had been out the last few weeks in Belleville due to injury.
Meanwhile, Yakemchuk played 21 shifts. 1:22 of that came on the power play, where he noted his penchant for assists between the legs. At 5 on 5, 50% of his shifts began in the offensive zone. For comparison, here are the other D-men offensive zones starting at 5 p.m. last night:
- cleven: 29%
- when: 24%
- spence: 18%
- mat fire: 0%
Kleven and Zub were given penalties of over 5 minutes. Yakemchuk was not used on the penalty kill. In terms of setting a young offensive D-man up for success, this is exactly how to do it. From there, of course, it was up to Yakemchuk to play well, and he certainly did that.
Best senator ever back to back?
I will not pretend to know each sense one by one. This is what I know. This was quite challenging as the Senators played both games on the road. To make matters worse, they played both games without their best defender Jake Sanderson. However, it doesn't end here!
In their win against Rangers, he played the second half of the game with only four defenders. They lost their new number one, Thomas Chabot, at the end of the first leg. Then they lost Lassie Thomson in the second. Despite this, he only allowed 10 shots in the entire game.
In the second game last night in Detroit, they were now without Sanderson, Chabot, Jensen, Gilbert and Thompson on the back-end. Donovan played less than five minutes, leaving Cleven as their only regular left-shot D-man. They found a way to win 3–2, giving 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 have a great game. That's exactly what he did last night. He saved 33 of the 35 shots he faced, including some incredible saves late to preserve a one-goal lead. This is the most saves Ullmark has made in a game all season.
It feels as if their struggle is now behind them. Since returning from his leave of absence in late January, Ullmark has gone 9-2-2 with a .902 SV%. This is by no means a typical SV%, but it is important to note that the Senators limit shots better than any team in the NHL. His 2.31 GAA during that time ranked fifth-best among all goaltenders with at least 10 games played. If he can provide that type of goaltending, the Senators have a great chance to get back to the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The Senators can't enjoy back-to-back spectacular victories much longer. They play another big game tomorrow night at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
