It was a very lonely skate back to the bench after Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark turned the puck over that led to Matthew Tkachuck’s game-winning overtime goal in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
But Ullmark found support in the Bruins’ locker room following his ill-timed miscue in Boston’s deflating 4-3 defeat at TD Garden.
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron, who returned from injury after missing the first four games of the series, showed his leadership by backing Ullmark and not putting the loss squarely on the netminder’s shoulders.
“He’s been a rock for us all year,” Bergeron told reporters, per team-provided transcript. “He’s given us a chance to win every time he’s stepped out there. He can’t be too hard on himself. We’re a team, it’s about what we do together on the ice as a unit of six and go from there. To me, I feel you win and you lose as a team. It is what it is.
“He’s a tremendous goalie, he’s probably the best goalie in the NHL and probably going to win the Vezina this year. We’re all there for each other and we’ve always said that, so chin up for him.”
Ullmark’s costly turnover came as he tried clearing a puck behind his net just six minutes into overtime. But his backhanded attempt went right to Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe as Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk converged too close on Ullmark to receive the pass. Verhaeghe then put a shot on net that Ullmark got a skate on, but the puck bounced right to Tkachuk, who put his attempt past a sprawled out Ullmark. It was all about having a short-term memory for Ullmark after the mistake.
Ullmark finished the night stopping just 21-of-25 shots for a .840 save percentage. It’s just the third time in the entire season Ullmark has had a save percentage under .850, with one of the other times coming in a 6-3 loss for the Bruins to the Panthers in Game 2.
But the Bruins still seem confident in the 29-year-old goalie even after the shaky performance and with the series heading to Florida on Friday for a Game 6.
