Bruins pop Penguins behind Ullmark’s 39 saves

Author Matt Dolloff

March 9th 5:58 PM

Pavel Zacha scored twice and Linus Ullmark made 39 saves as the Boston Bruins rocked the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

Ullmark kept the Bruins in the game early with a 14-save first period, which included a big stop on Penguins newcomer Michael Bunting on a breakaway. The Penguins had a chance to draw first blood with a power play that lasted into the start of the second period, but came up empty.

Mere minutes after the end of the Pens’ man advantage, David Pastrnak blasted home the first goal of the game. Handling a pass from Jake DeBrusk that deflected off a stick, Pastrnak fired a one-timer from the high slot and beat Pens goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Pastrnak’s 40th, marking the fourth time in his career he’s reached that milestone in a season.

Later in the second period, Zacha made it 2-0 after he tipped Morgan Geekie’s heads-up pass off Nedeljkovic and in during a Bruins power play. After a two-goal day, Zacha now has five goals in four games and 17 on the season.

Speaking of milestones, Brad Marchand is now one goal shy of 400 for his career after scoring his 399th to put the Bruins up 3-0. Marchand grabbed the pass from Charlie Coyle and darted for the net-front, where he roofed a backhand over Nedeljlkovic for the goal.

Pittsburgh got on the board early in the third period, after Sidney Crosby won a faceoff and fed it back to Kris Letang for a slap shot goal from the point. But Jake DeBrusk got the Bruins an insurance goal later after he buried a cross-ice pass from Marchand into the open net.

Zacha’s second goal was another deflection off Nedeljkovic and in.

Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt’s content.

So, what happened with Linus Ullmark on deadline day?

• That talk was first put out there by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, who had originally put the Ullmark talk into overdrive with a late-night tweet Thursday talking about a potential big goalie move in Boston, and was later backed up by Frank Seravalli, who outright said that Ullmark blocked a trade that would’ve sent him to the Los Angeles Kings.

  Fascinating day for #NHLBruins, sounds like they had a deal on the table to move G Linus Ullmark to #LAKings that didn't end up crossing the finish line.

  — Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 8, 2024

  Ullmark, of course, had the right, as he has skated this entire year with a 16-team no-trade list to his name.

• 

  Nov 4, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. (Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports)

  And while it more than checks out, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney opted not to outright throw Ullmark under the bus, and did not want to talk about whether or not Ullmark straight-up blocked a trade out of town.

  “I mean, at the end of the day, I’m not ever going to get into a conversation with what I may have talked to Linus about,” Sweeney, who did make two trades by Friday’s 3 p.m. deadline, said when asked about that specific rumor. “I acknowledge we’ve explored different situations. And we had opportunities to move different players.

  “But I’m not getting into the, you know, intricacies of what’s in somebody’s contract at this point in time.”

• 

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – FEBRUARY 8: Linus Ullmark #35 of the Boston Bruins celebrates a shutout win against the Vancouver Canucks with teammate Matt Grzelcyk #48 at the TD Garden on February 8, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

  Now, when it came to the talk of an Ullmark trade, there was enough smoke to make Don Sweeney’s office look like Chelsea circa ’73. Elliotte Friedman wrote about it. Pierre LeBrun wrote about it. Weekes talked about it. These aren’t @TradeMan2023 with a paid-for blue checkmark tweeting out some nonsense for engagement dopamine. These were some of the game’s heavy hitters telling the world that yes, Ullmark could be on the move by the trade deadline.

  An extremely thin goaltending market had a lot to do with that, of course. If the Bruins were going to trade a goaltender, the market put them in a wildly better position than when they were up against the cap last summer when people first started screaming for the Bruins to trade a goaltender. Comments from Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who ultimately settled for the Canadiens’ Jake Allen by the deadline, where he said teams with goalies were trying to ‘extort’ his club, only further that belief that the Bruins held all the chips (Ullmark’s trade protection notwithstanding) in a potential trade.

  Fitzgerald does not mince words on goalie market: "There is a market. People performing have set that market. All I'm trying to do is be fair in that market, but you also need a team that wants to make fair deals, too, versus just extorting you for every big asset you have."

  — Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) March 8, 2024

  So, was this something that Sweeney legitimately explored?

• 

  Oct 3, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) in goal during the second period against the Washington Capitals at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

  “I really like the tandem and we have right now I’m very happy that we’ve stood pat there,” Sweeney told me. “Rumors are rumors in terms of what happens in private conversations. You guys know me well enough, it’s not coming from here in terms of what we’re trying to explore and what other teams are asking about. I made no bones and if I had to rob from a real strength as a hockey club that was something we may have to do, if that made our team ultimately better, and we didn’t move in that direction. But that’s not an indictment on the two great goaltenders we have. It’s actually been a real strength of our hockey club from day one, and it’ll continue throughout, and we feel very comfortable each and every night.”

  It’s clear that the Swayman-Ullmark tandem has bailed the Bruins out countless times this year. The Bruins have the 12th-highest expected goals against this year, but have surrendered the seventh-fewest actual goals against this year. That’s just an absurd swing when you think about it, and it’s been from both goaltenders at various points this season. Their goaltending has probably been the second-best thing this team has beyond David Pastrnak’s superstar scoring abilities, really.

  But I had to know, did Sweeney look at it from a point of view that there simply wasn’t a trade to be made that would bring him something greater than what they’re going to lose by moving Ullmark and disrupting the one-two in goal?

  “Well, if we were going to do that and potentially weaken our hockey club in that area, it had to offset somewhere else, and we didn’t find the right situation that might have done that,” Sweeney told me. “I wasn’t overly aggressive about it. But I certainly was not unlike several other situations on the back end, and the forward group, that’s just the job. And I’ve said that before and I’m going to protect the conversations that I have because as I said before this is a human part of it you know.”

• 

  PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 27: Linus Ullmark #35 of the Boston Bruins greets teammates before playing against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

  As for what the Bruins could’ve acquired from the Kings, online rumblings suggested that Pierre-Luc Dubois was part of the would-have-been trade between the Bruins and Kings. For what it’s worth, that’s an idea that’s received some pushback, with some questioning if Dubois would be a true ‘culture fit’ for the Bruins. It’d also be almost impossible for the Bruins to fit Dubois and his $8.5 million cap hit into the equation without making it a much bigger trade.

  If I had to guess, the Bruins probably would’ve wanted a high-end draft pick, and if not a high-end draft pick, someone such as forward Quinton Byfield (the No. 2 overall pick in 2020). If the market was as intense as Fitzgerald in New Jersey suggested, that’s the kind of ask that would’ve made sense from a Bruins point of view.

  Especially when you look at the simple fact that the Bruins didn’t have to move Ullmark right now.

• It also highlights the trouble the Bruins may continue to run into when the Bruins eventually have to move on from Ullmark if and when Swayman is paid No. 1 goaltender money this summer.

  Ullmark’s trade protection will move from a 16-team no-trade list to a 15-team no-trade list next season. And it’s become clear that he’s not all that interested in leaving Boston if he can help it. That’s both his right and, well, completely understandable.

  When Ullmark moved from Boston to Buffalo, one of the first things he mentioned was how he felt immediately accepted and immediately comfortable with the Bruins. It may have taken a little bit for his personality to truly shine through, but it was the way the Bruins welcomed him with open arms that made him feel able to do that in the first place. Ullmark is also a father of young children, and his family enjoys life in Boston. It’s also a much easier trek back to Sweden in the offseason. It also helps that Ullmark has an insanely tight bond with Swayman, too, both on and off the ice.

  And it’s a partnership that the Bruins are happy to roll with, even after a potentially nixed deal to break it up.

  “I think both goalies benefit from having a strong relationship from pushing each other,” Sweeney admitted. “Knowing it’s hard to get the net but the other guy’s really good too. And the team responds to that as well because both guys are highly motivated, they might get the opportunity to if Monty [Jim Montgomery] said they we are going on a run give him a run.

  “I think both guys are competitive and internally driven to not give the net up. You know, it’s not a fait accompli that they alternate every night. They know that the schedule sometimes dictates for us but it’s a competitive advantage for us.”

  The Bruins, for what it’s worth, remain committed to trying to roll with a playoff rotation.

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Author Matt Dolloff

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