There’s a lot of words you can use to describe this Bruins team that’s defied the odds — the odds most outsiders gave ’em entering this season after an offseason full of losses, anyway — through the halfway mark of the campaign.
Scrappy. Resilient. If phrases are your preference over words, something like “fueled by a survivalist mentality” is an option, too. But there’s limits to that. And the Bruins may be about to experience exactly that, with Linus Ullmark on the shelf until otherwise noted following a scary-looking injury Tuesday night in Tempe.
Squared up for a Logan Cooley shot with just under 2:30 left in overtime, the 6-foot-5 Ullmark went down into a splitting position with his glove extended above his head. But on the way down, it was clear that something was not right, and as Ullmark couldn’t get back to his feet, the whistle blew with 2:20 remaining in the overtime frame.
TEMPE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 09: Goaltender Linus Ullmark #35 of the Bruins lays on the ice after an injury in overtime against the Coyotes at Mullett Arena on January 09, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Wednesday, for what it’s worth, is a travel day for the Bruins as the team preps for a Thursday night head-to-head with the Vegas Golden Knights. And as it stands right now, the team does not plan on holding any sort of practice or media availability. Barring a team-provided update or statement, an update on Ullmark will seemingly have to wait until Thurday’s morning skate at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The ‘update’ could come with Ullmark’s mere presence at that morning skate, and whether he’s still with the team at all. (If it’s bad enough, teams will often fly players back to their home city so their doctors and their specialists can get a closer look at the situation in the comfort of their spaces.)
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)
If you’re asking me point blank, no, the Bruins are not built to handle losing Ullmark for anything resembling a long-term spell. (Both goalies are behind David Pastrnak and probably just ahead of Charlie McAvoy if you had to build out the ‘can’t lose for any prolonged stretch’ power rankings.)
The Bruins entered this year saying that their two-headed monster in net would be their identity, and that has 100 percent been the case for this year’s club.
Through 40 games this season, the Bruins have the 12th-highest expected goals against at all-situation play, at 128.53. Boston’s actual goals against, however, ranks sixth in all of hockey, at 108. The Bruins’ tandem of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman has also posted an all-situation high-danger save percentage of .837, which is the third-best mark in the league through the first half of the 2023-24 season.
That hasn’t all been Swayman, either, as Ullmark’s actually posted a slightly better high-danger save percentage compared to Swayman, at .842 to .831. (Ullmark’s .842 high-danger save percentage is actually the sixth-best mark among a group of 39 goaltenders with at least 1,000 minutes played this season.)
Oh, and that’s without getting into the fact that Ullmark has faced more high-danger chances than Swayman has for the majority of the season (and especially of late), for some reason.
I don't love that second goal. But to play devil's advocate on bigger picture: He's facing 11.46 high-danger shots per game this month. Most in the league. He's also making most high-danger saves per game over that span (9.66). (Swayman, meanwhile, facing 5.9 HDS/60 this month.) https://t.co/TsUbU8IzBO
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) December 31, 2023And, of course, the strength within the Bruins’ one-two punch in net is that it allows them to rest the other guy and always throw a No. 1 goaltender at the opposition.
(Swayman has not started four games in a row during the Swayman-Ullmark era since the final four games of the Black and Gold’s first-round series loss to the Hurricanes in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.)
But until we hear otherwise, the sights and sounds of Ullmark’s exit on Tuesday are enough to make you think this may be Swayman’s crease for the next little while.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – OCTOBER 24: Matthew Poitras #51 of the Bruins takes a shot on goal against the Blackhawks during the first period at the United Center on October 24, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
But the in-game losses didn’t stop at Ullmark, as bad as that alone is for the Bruins, as the Bruins also lost center Matt Poitras to an upper-body injury earlier in the evening.
In what was his third game back in the lineup since returning from the 2024 World Juniors, the 19-year-old Poitras appeared to injure himself on an attempt hit on Arizona defenseman Sean Durzi.
It was unclear exactly where and how Poitras hurt himself on the attempted hit, but it’s worth noting that he did appear to land awkwardly on his right arm. Poitras would get back to his feet, but he glided back to the bench hunched over and grabbing at his arm/shoulder the entire way, and it would be the last we saw of him following a brief talk with Boston trainers ahead of a trip back to the B’s locker room.
