Sometimes the story of a hockey game can be quite simple. The Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames proved that with their barn burner Tuesday.
The Flames played a better game than the Bruins did, but Boston found a way to grab an eighth-consecutive win with some outstanding individual performances. Yes, we’re talking about Linus Ullmark again, who “stole” the game.
“Absolutely, he did,” Montgomery said postgame, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “If people didn’t know how good he was, they’ll watch this tape and know why he’s having such a fantastic year. He’s been the best goalie in the NHL this year.”
Ullmark made 54 saves on 57 shots, breaking the Bruins’ franchise record for saves in a game. The win was his 31st of the season, putting him on pace to match the franchise record in that category as well.
The 31-year-old spoke about his performance postgame.
“What should I say?” Ullmark asked. “It was a lot of fun. You never really want to get up to almost 60 shots in the game, but I’ll take it. We got two points and we’ll go home with a four-game road trip win streak. Love it.”
There’s no getting by the fact that the Bruins were retched in parts of this game, essentially begging Calgary to put them out to pasture. Instead, the Flames would leave the door open for yet another Boston win.
“We just — there’s an incredible belief on out bench that we’re always going to find a way,” Montgomery said. “There’s no panic. We knew we were being drastically outplayed, but our goaltender gave us an opportunity. Calgary was dominating us, but they gave us an opportunity and we took advantage of it.”
Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Flames game:
— Dmitry Orlov scored his first two goals as a member of the Bruins, potting both in the first period. The 31-year-old also assisted on Pavel Zacha’s power-play goal in the third period that tied the game.
— Nick Foligno slowly skated off the ice with what appeared to be a lower-body injury in the second period. He would not return for the third.
— Dan Vladar, who played for the Bruins 2020-21, let in two goals on five shots in the start for Calgary. He was replaced by Jacob Markstrom to start the second period.
— The Bruins will finally head back to Boston to open up a four-game homestand Thursday, starting with a tilt against the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
