The good and the bad news is that the Bruins will be without Linus Ullmark for at least one game, as the Bruins have termed Ullmark ‘unavailable’ for Thursday’s showdown with the Golden Knights.
There’s a positive within that update, however, as the Bruins are currently listing Ullmark, who departed Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Coyotes with a scary-looking lower-body injury, as “day to day” and nothing more.
There’s also some comfort in the fact that Ullmark will remain with the club for the final two games of the road swing and that he has not flown back to Boston to get checked out by a specialist of any sort.
Sep 24, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Brandon Bussi (30) makes the save against New York Rangers left wing Anton Blidh (25) during the second period at TD Garden. (Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports)
With Boston on his second recall of the 2023-24 season, the 6-foot-5 Bussi joins the Bruins with a 10-6-3 record and .901 save percentage through 20 games with AHL Providence this season.
It’s been a considerable dip from last year’s All-Star season in the minors, but Bussi does come back to Boston riding a slight high of sorts, with wins in three straight starts and a 30-of-33 effort in his last outing for the Baby B’s in a shootout victory against Springfield back on Jan. 6.
Sep 24, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Brandon Bussi (30) tends net against the New York Rangers during the second period at TD Garden. (Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports)
“I like to think my mental game is pretty strong,” Bussi, who acknowledged that things haven’t gone as he had hoped out of the gate this year in Providence, admitted. “But there was never any doubt. I’m a big process guy. [With] the process, if you’re doing the right things, the results will come in the long run.”
This is Bussi’s third NHL recall since the regular season finale of the 2022-23 season, and while he’s still waiting for NHL game No. 1, this is not an opportunity the 25-year-old is taking lightly.
“Every time you have an opportunity to be in the NHL, it’s super exciting,” said Bussi. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. They don’t come for everybody. I’m here to help the team in whatever way I can.”
It’ll be interesting to see if and when the Bruins give Bussi a game, and if it comes this Saturday in St. Louis when the Bruins wrap up their road swing against the Blues.
The Blues could provide Bussi with an ‘ideal’ landing spot, too, as they begin Thursday with the 26th-ranked offense (2.77 goals per game), and a power play that ranks dead last at just under 11 percent.
ELMONT, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 15: Linus Ullmark #35 of the Boston Bruins skates against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on December 15, 2023 in Elmont, New York. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
As for Ullmark, he is truly ‘day to day’ in the sense that the Bruins did not place him on the injured reserve to bring Bussi to Boston. That designation instead went to defenseman Brandon Carlo, who will miss three games as a result of his moved to the injured reserve. Carlo suffered an upper-body injury in the second period of Monday’s shootout loss to the Avalanche, and is also considered day to day.
