GARRIOCH: It’s up to Gus The Bus to determine where he’ll be next season

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The Ottawa Senators likely will turn to Gus The Bus on Monday night.

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The wait is finally be over for Senators goaltender Filip Gustavsson, with the expectation he’ll make the start against the Arizona Coyotes as Ottawa continues a five-game home stand at the Canadian Tire Center.

While Anton Forsberg wasn’t the only one with a less than stellar performance in the club’s 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday at home, he did give up six goals on 28 shots and it’s time to give him a break.

If Gustavsson, 23, makes the start against the Coyotes, it will be his first appearance in net since he gave up two goals on 33 shots in a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Feb. 20th at home.

He’ll be looking for his first victory in the NHL since he made 33 stops in a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 13th in Ottawa. Gustavsson has lost his past six appearances with Ottawa and needs to get his game turned around.

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Many have talked about the fact that starter Matt Murray’s injury history this season has made him unreliable. The fact is, his inability to stay healthy has been felt throughout the organization because it shifts everybody’s role.

The head injury Murray suffered March 5th in an 8-5 loss to the Coyotes in Glendale meant Gustavsson missed an AHL start with Belleville that night and made his way to Vegas to join the Senators as the backup to Forsberg.

The Senators wanted to make sure Gustavsson got practice time before giving him the chance to play but he has gone a long time between starts, and hasn’t played since a 3-2 loss to the Rochester Amerks on March 4th.

That kind of inactivity can make it difficult for Gustavsson to get into a rhythm, however, coach DJ Smith noted Saturday that’s one of the challenges a young goalie has to overcome to make it to the NHL full-time.

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“Every goalie that’s trying to break into the league goes through the exact same thing,” Smith said. “You’re up, you’re down, you’re backing up, you’re starting down there, you’re starting up here but you have to prove you belong in the league. Part of that is going through all that.

“Some guys can do it and some guys can’t. Some of the guys who have gone on to become (starters) and really good NHL goalies have all gone through that exact same process.”

Signed to a one-way contract that will pay him $787,500 next season, Gustavsson is scheduled to be Ottawa’s backup. The NHL trade deadline is set for next Monday at 3 pm EDT and there has been no shortage of debate concerning what the club should do with Forsberg.

A lot depends on Murray’s health, but if he’s good to go and is the starter next season then Ottawa won’t keep three goalies. These next six weeks could determine whether Gustavsson or Forsberg is the odd-man out.

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The club is exploring signing Forsberg and is believed to have held talks with his camp.

Gustavsson isn’t waiver exempt next season so that plays a big role as well.

“To be in the NHL you’ve got to beat somebody out,” Smith said. “It’s a hard thing to do. There’s only so many goalies out there. It’s not like playing wing where there’s eight spots on every team. There’s only two a team that get to play, so it’s a tough position to crack.

“But he’s on pace with everybody else and he just has to show that he can do it at this level.”

Gustavsson showed at the end of last season he can do it at this level. It was his play by him that made Senators GM Pierre Dorion elected to protect Gustavsson for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft ahead of Joey Daccord.

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Unfortunately, Gustavsson hasn’t looked nearly as dominant, however, there’s lots of racetrack left. Dorion said Friday the ideal scenario would see Murray get healthy enough to finish the year while Forsberg is the backup down the stretch.

That would allow Gustavsson to battle it out with Mads Sogaard in the AHL.

“That’s the good part as well is that you’ve got Sogaard who’s not willing to give up his spot either. It’s not like he’s handing it over to anybody,” said Smith. “If they could go on a run down there and have some success in the playoffs that would help everybody.

“That’s part of development process is being in playoff games and all of these things. So if he can do that and play in some playoff games that would be great.”

If that happens it could also allow Dorion, assistant GM Peter MacTavish, senior VP Pierre McGuire and the hockey operations staff to kick the can down the road on making a decision on the goaltending.

If Forsberg gets signed to an extension then maybe Gustavsson is the odd-man out and he gets dealt with. There’s a lot of moving parts, but Gustavsson can make the decision on his future himself by playing strong and helping the Senators win some games either here or in Belleville.

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Twitter: @sungarrioch