Linus Ullmark was forced to watch from his side as the Panthers extended the Boston-Florida first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday night.
A costly Ullmark mistake ultimately doomed the Bruins in Game 5 at TD Garden. Playing the puck behind his own net in sudden death, Ullmark tried to backhand it along the boards to no avail. The puck was intercepted by Carter Verhaeghe, who bounced a pass off Ullmark’s left leg pad. Matthew Tkachuk did the rest, pulling the puck to his backhand and roofing it to give the visitors a 4-3 overtime win.
After the game, Ullmark explained his train of thought after his OT clearance attempt was unsuccessful.
“Just try to get back to the net,” Ullmark told reporters, per a team-provided transcript. “Then he sends it in. I try not to put myself in a position where he can bank it off me. Unfortunately, it hits my skate and then ends up in the wrong hands, and front here, it was kind of a situation where I couldn’t get back into position. It takes a while, and he puts it in.”
Ullmark explained he’ll employ the “mind of a goldfish” as he puts his ill-timed blunder behind him and moves on to the Bruins’ next challenge. The Vezina Trophy frontrunner was very sharp in the series’ first two games in Florida, so he should go into Friday night’s Game 6 at FLA Live Arena with confidence.
