Maybe more teams should try and trade a former Vezina Trophy winner before the NHL Trade Deadline like the Boston Bruins did last month.
2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark made 32 saves in a gutsy 3-0 Bruins win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. With the win, the Bruins (76 GP, 44-17-15, 103 pts) pulled ahead of the Florida Panthers (76 GP, 44-27-5, 99 pts), who lost 5-3 to the Montreal Canadiens, for first place in the Atlantic Division.
They also pulled to within one point of the New York Rangers (75 GP, 50-21-4, 104 pts) for the Eastern Conference lead but still trailed the Dallas Stars (75 GP, 47-19-9, 103 pts) for second overall in the NHL.
Ullmark and Predators goalie Juuse Saros (30 saves) were in an old-fashioned goalies’ dual until Charlie Coyle broke a scoreless game with a shorthanded goal 13:18 into the third period. That paved the way for two more Bruins goals – one by Pavel Zacha (1g, 1a) exactly four minutes later and then an empty-net goal by Bruins superstar David Pastrnak (1g, 1a) 1:18 later – that gave the Bruins maybe one of their best wins of the 2023-24 regular season.
Here’s your Boston Hockey Now Bruins Postgame:
CLUTCH: As mentioned above, Boston Bruins goalie, just as he had been since the March 8 NHL Trade Deadline, Linus Ullmark, was in Vezina form and earned his second shutout of the season. Ullmark is now 20-9-7 with a 2.57 GAA and a .916 save percentage.
“Spectacular. I thought their goalie was really good too,” Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told the media in his postgame presser. “But our goalie was like an onslaught, he had to be down in his crouch, he had to be finding pucks through a lot of traffic…he made some saves look easy.”
Ullmark is now 4-2-0 with a .950 save percentage, and oh, by the way, he got a secondary assist on Coyle’s 24th goal of the season.
DOGHOUSE: Honestly, no doghouse for the Bruins here, except that a powerplay goal (the Bruins were 0-for-2) would’ve made things a bit easier.
BANGER: Predators forward Kiefer Sherwood led all skaters with six hits.
UNSUNG HERO: The Bruins’ penalty kill killed off all four Predators’ powerplays and got a Coyle shortie as they continue to shine as the games transition into playoff mode.
NEXT UP: The Bruins will close out this late-season six-game road trip in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Boston Bruins Lineup
Forwards
Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Jake DeBrusk
Danton Heinen – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Geekie – Trent Frederic
John Beecher – Jesper Boqvist – Justin Brazeau
Defensemen
Hampus Lindholm – Charlie McAvoy
Mason Lohrei – Brandon Carlo
Kevin Shattenkirk – Andrew Peeke
Goalies
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
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