Linus Ullmark Saw Senators Make ‘Statement’ In Win Over Bruins

BOSTON — Linus Ullmark knows very well that opponents just don’t walk into TD Garden and come away with an easy win.

After all, Ullmark was on a Boston Bruins team that lost only seven times — four times in regulation — on home ice during their historic 2022-23 regular season.

Ullmark had to put his feelings aside in an emotional return if he wanted to get the job done and come away with a win over his former team. He was successful at that and his teammates also played a big role in toppling Boston, 3-2, in overtime on Saturday night.

“Just getting the win in this barn is not easy,” Ullmark said. “It’s something that you dream of, coming in here as an opponent. You really want to bring your A-game. You want to do that and we really haven’t done that lately. But I thought that today we really showed what kind of team we are.”

The Senators not only earned a win over the Bruins, they did it in impressive fashion, too. Ottawa swallowed up Boston’s offense, especially in the third period when the Bruins failed to register a single shot on net. Senators star forward Brady Tkachuk had only four less shots on net than the entire Bruins team in the game.

That made the workload a lot less on Ullmark, who was called upon to face only 16 shots and he turned aside 14 of them. Ullmark’s final save, coming just seconds into overtime, was a beauty, though. He denied a one-time bid from Elias Lindholm on a 2-on-1 and after Ullmark’s pad stop, the Senators took off on an odd-man rush and Tkachuck rifled the game-winner past Jeremy Swayman, who totaled 31 saves in the loss.

“It’s a statement game, sort of speak,” Ullmark said. “We just have to learn that this is the sort of the game we have to play ever single night, not just sometimes here and there.”