It was far from a perfect outing in net for Linus Ullmark on Sunday night — despite what might be gleaned from the .949 save percentage he boasted in Boston’s 3-2 comeback victory over the Canucks.
The 28-year-old netminder — still in search of any semblance of traction as far as reps are concerned — was still plagued at times by rebound control. Both of the goals that he did relinquish against Tanner Pearson and Conor Garland will likely make him wince during any subsequent film review with Bob Essensa.
But in Bruce Cassidy’s eyes, the true determinant when it comes to assessing the effectiveness of your personnel in net doesn’t always hinge on baseline stats like save percentage. It doesn’t always have to do with the quantity of saves.
Rather, the factor that often serves as the difference between two points in the standings and a disheartening defeat is the timing of said saves — and whether or not your netminder can keep his club in the fight during those critical moments.
Such a make-or-break opportunity presented itself near the midway point of the third period — with Boston on the power play and looking to claw back from a 2-1 deficit.
Despite a few promising looks on the man advantage, a misplayed puck from Nick Foligno invited an opportunity for the Canucks to land a counter-punch, with Tyler Motte skating in alone against Ullmark on a shorthanded breakaway.
Given the amount of time left on the clock (coupled with Boston’s impotent offensive capabilities at 5v5 play) a tally for Motte at that stage of the evening would have likely spelled doom for the Bruins — with a regulation defeat to the cellar-dwelling Canucks representing a new low for the B's so far this season.
That knockout punch didn’t land, however — with Ullmark dropping down and denying Motte’s quick wrist shot.
Just 43 seconds later, the Bruins found their equalizer, with Brad Marchand paving the way for Boston’s third-period rally with a power-play strike off of a second-chance opportunity.
Marchand’s power-play heroics will draw most of the headlines following Sunday’s win, but had Ullmark not stopped Motte’s down the other end of the ice, we’re likely looking at a very different game — and an unbearable couple of days on the airwaves.
“The shorthanded breakaway goal — it could have been a back-breaker,” Cassidy said. “So I look at that as — when you judge goaltenders, it's timely saves and that was huge. That was a huge save. If he doesn't make that save I don't know if we win the game.
“I mean, anything could have happened — so that was big. A couple other ones find his way through him. He's gonna have to tighten up. I think he understands that, maybe getting into a rhythm will help him with that. But at the end of the day, there was some good saves and that was a huge one that gave us a chance to win."
Timely saves have often been Ullmark’s undoing so far during his brief tenure so far with Boston. Among the 73 goalies in the NHL with at least 100 minutes of ice time this season, Ullmark ranks 62nd in high-danger save percentage at .750%.
Sunday stood as a step in the right direction (7-of-8 on high-danger shots from Vancouver), but the Bruins are going to need to see those results over an extended sample size in order to assuage this club’s concerns regarding the current state of its goalie corps.
That opportunity should present itself this week with four games in seven days — with Cassidy already set to hand Ullmark the start once again on Tuesday against the Red Wings. It will mark just the second time this season that Ullmark has been handed consecutive starts, with the last time coming between 10/22 - 10/27 over three games against Buffalo, San Jose and Florida.
"We've got to get him in a rhythm," Cassidy said. "Some of that will be how he's feeling after this. He missed some time with an injury. … We've got (games) Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, so certainly an opportunity to get him work."
The ramp-up in the schedule comes at a critical time for Boston when it comes to assessing its netminders.
Because a decision on Tuukka Rask is looming on the horizon — and as Cassidy noted on Monday morning, it sure seems like the veteran free agent is ahead of schedule in his recovery from hip surgery.
He's completely on schedule,” Cassidy said of Rask — who was practicing ahead of Bruins practice again on Monday morning. “And the schedule, again, I defer to the medical people, was supposed to be somewhere after the new year. Could be into February. Now February is the Olympic break, so then it bleeds into March. So there was a little bit of leeway there when I was told originally when the surgery happened. So I think he's right there, if not probably a little bit ahead. I know he's not behind.”
OTHER NOTES
After crashing into the boards off of a hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game against the Canucks, Anton Blidh will be ruled out for Tuesday’s matchup against Detroit.
It’s a tough break for the 26-year-old pugnacious winger. Along with his impressive unassisted tally in the first period of Sunday’s victory, Blidh has been as advertised on the fourth line — routinely landing welts against opponents whenever he hops over the boards.
"He won't be available tomorrow,” Cassidy said Monday. “So we know that — at least the short term. He's out for tomorrow. Could be a little longer, but we don't think it's anything long-term."