Coming into this postseason it would’ve been reasonable to describe Linus Ullmark as the best goaltender in the NHL.
After all, the Swede just completed a season where he posted league-best totals in wins (40), goals-against average (1.89), save percentage (.938) and Goals Saved Above Average (+48.5) despite a relatively modest 49-game workload.
The only argument against Ullmark in the Vezina Trophy race is that he didn’t play enough games, and even with that strike against him he is still the heavy favourite.
Despite all of those numbers, there’s been room for doubt about Ullmark to creep in lately. The 29-year-old enters the postseason with just two playoff outings under his belt, and after a rough Game 2 performance, his career playoff record sat at 1-3 with a 3.59 GAA and an .881 sv%.
That small sample wasn’t nearly enough to panic, but he was then a game-time decision for Game 3 and Boston thought about resting him for Game 4 due to an unspecified injury he’s been battling.
It’s a good thing for the Bruins that Ullmark has been able to gut it out, because he delivered a masterful effort on Sunday, stopping 41 of 43 shots in a win that gave the Bruins a 3-1 series lead.
Not only did he make a number of impressive saves…
… he also showed some intensity, getting into it with Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk:
Whatever Ullmark is dealing with physically, he looked as good as he had all season on Sunday. It was just the second time during his brilliant 2022-23 campaign that he made 40 or more stops and conceded two or fewer goals.
The Bruins’ superlative record — and the fact they have a stranglehold over the Panthers in their first-round series — undersells the degree to which Boston needs Ullmark at his best.
In part due to the absence of top center Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins have not dominated the underdogs from the Sunshine State. Florida has outshot Boston by a narrow margin overall, and generally outplayed them at even strength, with an expected goals for mark of 53.06%.
Although the Bruins are going to advance barring an utter collapse, they will need peak Ullmark to fulfill the expectations borne out of a historical regular season. Boston is no paper tiger, but perhaps the biggest driver of their 2022-23 success was their goaltending, spearheaded by Ullmark.
The difference between Boston’s NHL-best team save percentage (.930) and the next-best team in the league by that metric (the New York Islanders at .915) was the approximately difference between the Isles and the Edmonton Oilers in 14th-place (.900).
Having that much of a leg up in your crease is rare, and it helped make the Bruins a juggernaut.
In a critical Game 4 where they were out shot 44-31, Ullmark showed that despite his limited playoff resume — and the fact he’s banged-up — he’s still plenty capable of giving his team that edge.
