The biggest cliché in sports is saying a game has a “playoff atmosphere” if it is contested between two playoff-caliber teams.
Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark isn’t about that life.
The Bruins captured their 10th-consecutive victory Saturday, rolling to a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers at TD Garden. Boston and New York will each find themselves in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which caused questions as to whether their matinee matchup felt like that of a playoff game.
The victorious goaltender had a straightforward answer.
“No, it wasn’t even close,” Ullmark said postgame. “… I didn’t think it was. It wasn’t loud, it wasn’t anything like that. I didn’t feel like there was any physicality, except for maybe a little bit in the first.
“They had a couple of guys away, so probably they wanted to stay away from that. They didn’t want to get too many guys in the penalty box and play with less defenseman. We know that as well, we’ve got to stay out of the box because they have a good power play.”
The Rangers entered their contest with the Bruins extremely shorthanded, dressing just 11 forwards and five defenseman. That lends credence to Ullmark’s theory, especially after watching the two teams get into a pair of scraps and a fight in the first period, with nothing following in the latter two.
The Bruins, on the other hand, have added some scrap in the likes of Tyler Bertuzzi and Garnet Hathaway but can only end up losing out at this stage in the season. Depleting the NHL’s best lineup by letting the opponent bait you into fights isn’t the smartest thing in the world.
These two squads almost certainly will have a matchup with “playoff atmosphere,” as a second-round series is very much on the table.
But until then, don’t tell Ullmark it’s a playoff atmosphere.
