How ‘Unpredictability’ Led To Linus Ullmark’s Success For Bruins

Linus Ullmark has been stellar all season long for the Bruins and a lot of it has to do with his ability to do anything he can to make the save.

Ullmark is 16-1-0 heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with the New York Islanders and has been nothing but lights out for Boston. His 1.78 goals-against average and .941 save percentage both rank first in the NHL among goaltenders.

The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa talked with the Bruins netminder about why this season has been his best, writing that it’s the “unpredictability” factor Ullmark has added to his game that is resulting in such successes.

“But part of what’s made Ullmark trickier to solve this season is his unpredictability,” Shinzawa wrote. “He has always sprinkled different techniques into his game. For example, a dive to stop a puck, a vertical-horizontal seal post when shooters expect reverse vertical-horizontal and a willingness to use his head to steer a shot wide.”

Ullmark explained his own mindset to Shinzawa when it comes to making saves, explaining how there “are no bad saves.”

“Just have a deep enough toolbox so you can do things different ways,” Ullmark told Shinzawa. “You’ve still got to have a system in place to your strengths and not flop around all the time. But if the situation demands a two-pad stack or a head save, I’m all for it. If that’s what makes a save, great. Because there are no bad saves. Every save is a good save.”

There’s no denying the 29-year-old’s mindset has worked out this season. After all, he currently is a favorite to win the Vezina Trophy. Ullmark will look to keep making the saves to lead the Bruins to glory and, potentially, beyond.