Red-hot Linus Ullmark placed on injured reserve as Senators turn to Samuel Ersson in goal

The Ottawa Senators will have to carry on without their hottest hand.

Less than 24 hours after the Senators delivered a knockout punch to former captain Brady Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre, the club placed top goaltender Linus Ullmark on the injured reserve list on Thursday.

The Senators also recalled Jonas Johansson from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville to dress as the backup to Samuel Ersson on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks at home.

Ullmark, who left the club’s 5-1 win over the Panthers 3:25 into the third period, suffered a lower-body injury after stopping what appeared to be an innocent-looking shot from Tkachuk. Ullmark had blocked 17 of 18 shots before leaving the game.

The decision to place Ullmark on IR means he’ll miss at least three games, and likely more. He won’t be eligible to return until next Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena, the second game of a 10-day road trip.

This is a difficult blow for the Senators, who went into the visit from the Sharks with a 7-3-0 record in their first 10 games.

Ullmark has been one of the NHL’s best goaltenders to start this season. The 33-year-old has posted a 1.33 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage in eight starts this year, with a 7-1-0 record in that stretch.

He left the club’s 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Oct. 5, but sat on the bench for the third period. Ullmark didn’t dress the next night against the Detroit Red Wings, but was back in the net for the club’s home opener on Oct. 8 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Ullmark has never played more than 50 games in a season during his career. If he’s out for a lengthy period — and this is the same injury he suffered in Boston — that’s cause for concern.

It will be up to Ersson to carry the ball, which is a scary proposition at the moment.

Ersson, who spent his entire career with the Philadelphia Flyers before joining the Senators in a three-team deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs before the NHL draft in June, had the second-worst save percentage in the league at .870.

But those numbers didn’t stop Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, from signing Ersson to a two-year contract extension worth $2.2 million US per season.

The hope was that Ersson would be helped by a change of scenery.

Thus far, it hasn’t worked out well. Heading into the visit from the Sharks, Ersson was ranked No. 54 in GAA at 4.70 and No. 54 with an .851 save percentage.

He’s winless in two starts, but did help backstop the club to victory in Detroit in the third period. Ersson took over from Ullmark against the Panthers, but faced only one shot.

The Senators had better hope Ersson is ready for the challenge of carrying this team for the foreseeable future.

He was strong down the stretch last year in Philadelphia, finishing 6-1-0 with a .912 save percentage after the club returned from the Olympic break.

We’re not sure what kind of option Johansson is, either. The Senators likely wish they hadn’t lost backup Leevi Merilainen on waivers to the Vancouver Canucks, but they weren’t going to keep three goaltenders here, and you can’t turn back the clock.

Johansson has had a solid start with Belleville this season. He has posted a 3-1-1 record with a 2.92 GAA and a .912 save percentage in five games this season.

Ullmark joined winger William Eklund on the injured list because the club had to make room for Johansson on the roster.

Eklund hasn’t played since he suffered an ankle injury in the home opener that required surgery. He’ll be out at least three months.

Eklund met with the media on Thursday for the first time since he had surgery, using a scooter to prop up his leg. He’s at the rink daily and has been working with the medical staff to try to get back as quickly as possible, but won’t play before mid-January.

The 24-year-old, traded to Ottawa by the Sharks after the Senators moved Tkachuk to the Panthers, had circled Thursday on his calendar because he was looking forward to facing his former teammates.

“Obviously, I didn’t want to be injured, but it happens in this game, and I’ll try to recover as fast as I can and as good as I can,” said Eklund. “It’s such a fast game. Things like this happen. You get frustrated for sure, but now it’s about recovery.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com