The Ottawa Senators prepare to face the Philadelphia Flyers in their home opener with top goaltender's injury status up in the air.

All eyes will be on who leads the Ottawa Senators onto the ice Thursday night for warmups at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Will Linus Ullmark be ready or won’t he?

The club’s top goaltender didn’t even dress as the backup for a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, which saw the Senators close out a three-game trip with four of six points.

Ullmark left the club’s 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday, but did sit on the bench for the third period.

The Senators will host the Philadelphia Flyers in the 34th home opener in franchise history at the Canadian Tire Centre and club officials are hopeful that Ullmark will make the start.

Coach Travis Green told reporters before the game at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday that Ullmark was “fine.”

But the Senators weren’t on the ice on Wednesday after arriving home from their three-game trip in the wee hours of the morning, which means we won’t know about Ullmark’s status until Thursday’s skate.

The club recalled Jonas Johansson from its American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville on Tuesday morning to dress as the backup to Samuel Ersson in Detroit.

Ullmark was slow getting up when Boston’s JJ Peterka smashed into the crease with 4:24 left in the second. Ullmark stayed in the goal to finish the period, but it initially looked like he was in discomfort.

Green said Ullmark was injured during that incident.

He remained on the club’s active roster on Wednesday, which meant the Senators had to send extra defenceman Jorian Donovan back to Belleville to make room for Johansson’s recall.

Johansson also was listed on the roster on Wednesday.

Trying to make the National Hockey League playoffs for the third straight spring, it has been stated in this space more than once that the Senators will go as far as their goaltending can take them.

Backup Ersson, who made his first start in the club’s net in Detroit, stopped 31 of 35 shots against the Wings, but gave up two goals he’d like to have back.

Those ready to jump ship on Ersson, acquired from the Flyers via the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer, need to take a step back and see how this situation unfolds.

He gave the Senators a chance to win, but for the first 30 minutes of the loss to the Wings, the club wasn’t very good in front of him. This was one game and the expectation is that Ersson will play 35 times.

Let’s see where this goes before rushing to judgment. We know he’s one of the worst statistical goalies over the past three years, but maybe a change of scenery will be helpful.

But it’s paramount to get Ullmark back because he must carry the ball for the club this season. Judging by his first two starts, he has returned to the form he had in the playoffs last spring.

It’s a small sample size, but the 33-year-old Ullmark has posted a .949 save percentage and a 1.20 goals-against average in a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and the win in Boston.

Ullmark has never played more than 49 games in his career and that only happened twice, including last season.

The schedule has been increased to 84 games this year, which will put more demand on the goaltending. The Senators need to have a healthy Ullmark to keep them in the hunt for a playoff spot.

The Senators are looking forward to getting back to Ottawa.

The club will play four of its next six games at home, starting with the visit by the Flyers and the Nashville Predators on Saturday. The club is expecting strong crowds for both of these contests.

You have to set the tone at home and the Senators should be buoyed by the way they played in the first three games on the road.

They would have liked a better effort in Detroit to close out the trip, but you can’t win them all. The Senators weren’t very good for 30 minutes and then pulled within a goal until the Wings scored an empty-netter.

The Senators pride themselves on playing strong defensively, but they surrendered 36 shots to the Wings.

“It’s still a great trip,” Ottawa captain Thomas Chabot told reporters in Detroit on Tuesday night. “You go home with four out of six points, that’s positive. Three games against teams in our division and we’re playing some good hockey.

“We’re looking forward to our home opener and feeding off the energy of our fans.”

The Senators hope to get off to a better start in this one than they did against the Wings.

“We didn’t really play for the first 25 or 27 minutes of the game,” Chabot said. “In this league, no matter who you play, if you don’t show up right at the start, you aren’t going to win. We took some not-so-great penalties and gave them momentum.”