Linus Ullmark responds after horrible performance against the Leafs.

The preseason has not gotten off to a good start for the Ottawa Senators.

On Sunday, the Senators took on their intraprovincial rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in what was the first preseason game of the season for both squads. Unfortunately for the Senators it was not the start they would have wanted, highlighted by a truly terrible performance from star goaltender Linus Ullmark.

Ullmark was pulled after just the first period and you can hardly blame Senators heads coach Travis Green for making the difficult decision after Ullmark coughed up 3 goals in the opening frame. It's not like Ullmark was getting peppered with shots either, with the veteran netminder recording a save percentage of of .625 after giving up 3 goals on just 8 shots from the Maple Leafs.

These weren't goals where Ullmark had no chance either, with Nick Robertson opening the scoring from the top of the faceoff circle.

Following the game Ullmark was asked about being pulled after 20 minutes and he attempted to downplay the decision from Travis Green by suggesting that the plan had always been to only play 20 minutes.

While that would certainly make sense in the preseason, what doesn't make nearly as much sense is the fact that Ullmark never returned to the Senators bench after being pulled. Normally goalies who only play part of the game will spend the remainder of the game on the bench with their teammates, but that was not the case for Ullmark on Sunday.

Whether the veteran goaltender may have tweaked something, was simply frustrated after his horrible first 20 minutes of the preseason, or if he had simply planned to spend the rest of the game somewhere else isn't clear at this time.