The Ottawa Senators received a welcome infusion from American League callups, goalie Mads Sogaard and forward Stephen Halliday, en route to a 7-1 thrashing of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Sogaard made 19 saves in securing his first NHL win since December 28, 2024. While Halliday recorded a career-high two goals, one assist, before leaving the game late in the third period after being driven into a stanchion by Golden Knights Tomas Hertl.
Dylan Cozens notched a pair of goals for the Senators. Fabian Zetterlund, Nick Jensen, and Jordan Spence added singles. Brady Tkachuk earned three assists for the 10th occasion as an NHLer. Newly-acquired Rasmus Andersson was the lone scorer for Vegas, breaking Sogaard’s shutout bid in the final four minutes.
The win sees the Senators trailing the final Wildcard berth by seven points. It was also the first time in franchise history that the Senators defeated the Golden Knights in regulation on home ice in eight meetings.
In a surprise move, Linus Ullmark was activated from his leave one hour prior to the game’s 5 pm start, serving as the Senators backup to Sogaard. It remains unknown if the goaltender will make his return to the crease on Wednesday when Ottawa faces the Colorado Avalanche.
Sogaard’s Perseverance The Key
Recalled Saturday in advance on what was deemed an emergency basis due to the Belleville Senators playing on the road in Springfield, MA, Sogaard made the most of his opportunity. In his lone previous outing this season, the 25-year-old was torched for five second-period goals in 16 minutes during an 8-2 drubbing in Colorado, January 8.
It’s been a long road for the Senators 2019 37th overall Draft selection. Having played parts of six seasons within the Senators organization, Sogaard has appeared in only 130 games including playoffs for Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, Belleville and 32 for the parent Senators during what has become an injury-plagued career.
Sustaining multiple injuries last season, the soft-spoken six-foot-seven netminder played in 10 games in the entire 2024-25 campaign, eight for Belleville, two with Ottawa.
Sogaard displayed his admiration for those who supported him during his time attempting to get back on the ice.
“I think what I went through last year was being injured for pretty much the whole year, watching on the sideline, coming back, not being able to move like I did before. It’s been a really long road back here and lot of hard work, a lot of really hard days, but I have an amazing support system, and they’re the one that helped me to get here. So very thankful to get the opportunity, and then super-thankful for the guys to play as hard as they did,” said Sogaard postgame.
On this night, Sogaard was thrown into the fire immediately, having to stare down Golden Knights’ Mitch Marner on a penalty shot just 1:36 in. Using his size, Sogaard forced Marner to go wide and loft the puck over the net.
“I was kind of excited, honestly. I mean, I was obviously more nervous than normal just given the situation, but I thought that was a great way to get into a game. So I thought it was a fun challenge,” noted the Senators goalie.
It’s unknown how long Sogaard will remain on the Senators’ roster given Ullmark was activated Sunday and James Reimer is likely in Ottawa to stay the rest of the season. However he will be leaving for Milan in the next couple of weeks as a member of Denmark’s Olympic team.
“Very excited, very excited. It’s going to be a pretty cool tournament to go to and to represent your country is something that I’m very, very proud of. I’m excited to go there and help the team in any way I can, to win games and maybe surprise some teams we’ll see and go from there.”
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Halliday Stakes His Claim For Senators’ Roster Permanence
Appearing in his first NHL regular-season game and registering an assist, November 20, Halliday’s growth is visible each game.
Whether playing centre or in his current position as a fourth-line wing, the 23-year-old’s stock continues to grow. Recalled from Belleville to replace an injured David Perron, Halliday tallied his first NHL marker Thursday in Nashville, following up with a three-point performance (two goals, one assist) Sunday. Selected 104th overall in the 2022 Entry Draft as a 20-year-old, Halliday currently has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 21 games. In 22 games with Belleville this season, Halliday has garnered 26 points (two goals, 24 assists) in 22 games.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk likes what he sees in his teammate, “I mean, he played amazing.. he is in every single game he plays. He just keeps getting better and better, and the confidence, the poise, and he’s a player that’s going to help us moving forward.”
Sogaard also sang Halliday’s praises, “Yeah, honestly, not surprised. He’s a hell of a player. He’s gonna be here for a long time, so smooth and does things, it looks kind of in slow motion sometime, but that’s just because, because he’s so good, so awesome to watch a guy like that. I’ve spent a lot of time with him in Belleville, and he works his butt off every single day. So I think it’s awesome to see a guy like that come up and do well.”
Halliday who left the game due to precautionary measures as noted above, was in the Senators locker room postgame and appeared to be “ok” per Tkachuk.
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