Linus Ullmark picked up his 100th career win in the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the Islanders Wednesday night. Amazingly, nearly a quarter of those wins have come in just the last four months.
Ullmark improved to a ridiculous 24-2-1 this season and continues to lead the NHL in wins. He also continues to lap the field in both save percentage (.937) and goals-against average (1.88) after stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced.
With three months still left in the regular season, Ullmark is already just two wins away from tying his career high. After the game, he acknowledged that this level of success has been a bit overwhelming to think about at times.
"It has been overwhelming, I'm not gonna lie," Ullmark said. "It has been a different kind of a season, definitely. It's taken a lot of me mentally to keep going, not be kind of satisfied, because it's hard if you've had the luxury now for half of the season to be at this point. Usually, you're at this point at the end of the season. So, I have a lot of gratitude for all the boys in here that go to work every single night. Kudos to them."
Ullmark credited his teammates, and Brad Marchand in particular, for helping him avoid complacency and continuing to push him every day.
"I think Marchy has a big... [laughs]," Ullmark began, presumably with Marchand nearby. "No, seriously, we have a lot of guys in this team that have been around the league for a long time, and they know that you can't get satisfied because there's such small details that can make something crumble. He's one of those guys, he's always honest with me. If he feels like I'm taking a day off, he's always right there up my ass and tells me to get going."
It's not the first time we've heard Ullmark talk about how he likes to be pushed and challenged. A couple weeks ago, while discussing his first career All-Star selection, Ullmark praised Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa for the same kind of thing.
"I just love Bob," Ullmark said. "We've had great conversations throughout these one and a half years now and grown closer and closer each day. We butt heads sometimes, but we can always agree upon something in the end. I like that. I don't want some yaysayer or whatever. I want someone that I can bounce ideas off and have a conversation with, and I also want him to be honest with me and say, 'This is not good enough.' Because if I don't get to hear that, I can't improve. I don't want someone to just pat my back all the time and say, 'You did a good job.' As the goaltender, you want to be able to make all the saves. So we've found that kind of back-and-forth relationship now that I really enjoy."
Of course, there is still plenty of back-patting, too. Marchand and everyone else on the Bruins know how incredible Ullmark has been this season and how fortunate they are to have him.
"He's been phenomenal all year," Marchand told NESN Wednesday night. "Every night he gives us an opportunity to win, and tonight's another example of that. He makes those saves that kind of allow us to calm down and breathe and regroup. He's the best goalie in the league right now, so we're lucky to him."
