“That’s the biggest win of the year.”
That was the declaration from Bruins coach Jim Montgomery minutes after David Pastrnak buried a filthy shootout winner to cap off a wild 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders Friday night, a game in which the Bruins overcame 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits.
Andrew Raycroft on Jim Montgomery's coaching this year
And none of it would have happened if not for a pair of 10-bell saves from Linus Ullmark while Boston was down 2-0, the second of which rates as the save of the year so far.
The Bruins looked dead in the water late in the second period. They were trailing 2-0 and getting nearly doubled up in shots. They finally got a power play, but then gave away a shorthanded 2-on-1 that could have pretty much ended the game.
Instead, Ullmark, the only Bruin who had shown up to that point in the game, stood on his head for a pair of incredible stops. On the first, he went side-to-side to rob Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s one-timer off a feed from Simon Holmstrom. The rebound sat in the slot for Holmstrom, who was left with a half-empty net. Somehow, Ullmark recovered just enough to kick out his left leg and make a toe save.
“Probably the game’s over if they score there,” Montgomery said. “Tremendous. Tremendous compete.”
Seconds later, James van Riemsdyk set up Morgan Geekie for a power-play goal at the other end to cut New York’s lead to 2-1. Suddenly, Boston had life. Three minutes later, the power play struck again to tie the game, with Kevin Shattenkirk setting up Pastrnak.
The Bruins would need to come back two more times in the third. The Islanders retook the lead on a Bo Horvat power-play goal, a shot that Ullmark had no chance of stopping. The Bruins answered with their third power-play goal of the night, with van Riemsdyk going to the net and tipping in a perfect shot-pass from Shattenkirk.
That tie lasted barely a minute before the Bruins put the Islanders back on the power play, and once again paid for the infraction. Horvat fired a one-timer wide, but Brock Nelson was in perfect position to put back the rebound off the end boards – another shot Ullmark had little chance of saving.
For the third time, the Bruins refused to stay down. They tied the game again with 3:09 to go when Mason Lohrei collected a loose puck below the goal line and banked it in off Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin. The goal itself was a bit wacky, but it came after consistent offensive-zone pressure that had created chaos around the net.
It wasn’t just the incredible double save that made Ullmark far and away the No. 1 star in this one. If not for his play early on, the Islanders could have built up a lead bigger than two goals long before then. In the first period, he made a pair of nice saves on Casey Cizikas after he got behind Boston’s defense. In the second, he robbed Kyle Palmieri on a one-timer from the doorstep.
The Islanders also had multiple great chances to win the game in overtime, but Ullmark was there to rob Nelson with the glove during a New York power play, and to turn aside a golden rebound chance for Mathew Barzal. Add in two more saves in the shootout for good measure.
When it was all said and done, Ullmark had faced 17 high-danger shots and saved 15 of them – both season highs for a Bruins goalie. That’s something he’s been doing all season, as he now ranks fifth in the NHL in high-danger save percentage (.854), right behind tandem-mate Jeremy Swayman (.858) in fourth.
One day after Mike Milbury renewed his calls for the Bruins to trade him, Ullmark offered a reminder why he won the Vezina last year, why he’s so valuable to this team, and why it would be crazy to trade him for anything less than a king’s ransom.
“The only reason we have a chance to make it 2-2 is because he’s already made 10-bell saves,” Montgomery said of Ullmark on NESN. “And then he continues to do so throughout the game.”