(Photo credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images)

Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark will make his first start since returning from a personal leave when the Senators host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

Ullmark went on leave Dec. 28, one day after a difficult road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and later revealed in an interview with TSN that he experienced an onset of anxiety and panic during that game.

His coach and teammates expressed enthusiasm at his return to the ice as well as support for him off the ice.

'Great to have him back. Obviously, he's a big part of our team. Nice to see him back in the net tonight,' head coach Travis Green told reporters Saturday, per TSN. 'He's a big part of a group. There's probably been more concern just for him as a person than the player.'

Right winger Drake Batherson told reporters the team is ready to have Ullmark back in net.'Yeah it's huge. Obviously been a while,' Batherson said. 'Good to have him around here the last couple of weeks and if he's in there tonight we'll be fired up and we're all excited.'

Ullmark contacted the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and organized his leave of absence with the Senators after the Dec. 27 loss to the Leafs and spoke to TSN about what he experienced that led to that decision.

'We hockey players always think that things are going to kind of sort themselves out. So I kept playing, thinking that in the first period, kind of everything will settle once I get out there. And then you let in the first goal, first shot, first period -- (40) seconds in. That doesn't really make you settle in very nicely. Now your thoughts start to get even more louder,' Ullmark said in December.

'And the thing is that I've learned a lot back in the day when my dad (died in 2021) regarding depression, regarding sadness, how to really make the darkness your friend. And so, this was a whole new thing. But I also know that I was very scared. It was something that physically manifested in me during the game. And I was very, you know, I was not myself, basically.'

Ullmark, 32, is in his second season with the Senators. The 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner is 177-95-31 with a 2.58 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and 13 shutouts across 11 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres (2015-21), Boston Bruins (2021-24) and Senators.

--Field Level Media