Linus Ullmark’s late-season surge gives Bruins an interesting conundrum in net as playoffs approach

Linus Ullmark is no stranger when it comes to post-game celebrations. 

Just seven months into his tenure in Boston, the veteran netminder has already gained cult status for his heartfelt (and increasingly elaborate) embrace with his battery mate in Jeremy Swayman.

But Friday’s overtime victory over the Lightning warranted an even greater flourish from the former Sabres netminder.

As soon as Charlie Coyle lifted the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy 3:37 into the extra frame, the Weymouth native was immediately mobbed by Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy — the other two skaters who orchestrated the winning tally. 

Close to 200 feet down the other end of the sheet, Ullmark shared in the merrymaking, chucking a few fist-pumps off of one leg before racing down toward the growing fracas forming just outside of the Bolts’ crease. 

For Ullmark, any win in the NHL ranks — be it against a Cup contender or a rebuilding roster — warrants some celebration.

But for a goalie who has trudged through his fair share of peaks and valleys this season, coming out on the winning side of a potential playoff-preview bout against the Bolts opened the door for even more revelry. 

"He deserves to be like that — that's how he is,” Coyle said of Ullmark’s post-game celebration. “He's kind of a happy-go-lucky guy, works hard and it's nice to see guys like that succeed.”

Coyle might have delivered the coup de grace that handed Boston its third win in four meetings with the Lightning this season, but the Bruins wouldn’t have even been in a position to escape Amalie Arena with points in the standings had it not been for the play of Ullmark, who stopped 28 of the 29 shots that come his way in the win. 

The stout performance between the pipes has been far from an outlier.

In his last seven appearances now, Ullmark is 6-0-0 with a .938 save percentage, improving to 23-9-2 overall in his first season in a black-and-gold sweater.

Ullmark’s progression this season has been about as linear as a share of GameStop stock — with his latest heater coming off the heels of a rough five-game stretch in February and March where he went 1-3-1 with a .883 save percentage.

But during those gloomy days back in December and January when the Bruins faced COVID (and questions about Tuukka Rask’s status), Ullmark was a steadying presence, winning 13 of his 17 starts with a .916 save percentage.

Such is the life of an NHL goaltender, where season-long consistency is a certainty for only a select few of the game’s elite.

Look no further than Ullmark’s partner in Swayman — who, for months it seemed, had been crowned as the B’s heir apparent in net following Rask’s retirement. 

But after winning nine of his first 10 games after Rask stepped aside, Swayman’s game has dipped into his first real extended rut with Boston — with the rookie posting a .883 save percentage over his last nine games.

Had Friday’s game been held, say, a month ago, it would have likely served as another measuring-stick contest for Swayman as Boston looked to get the promising youngster ready for the war of attrition that comes with every Cup run. 

But a lot can change in the span of a few weeks — and Boston’s netminding situation all season stands a most evident example of such sentiment.

Even before Ullmark shut down the Bolts for most of Friday’s showdown, Bruce Cassidy noted earlier that morning that the B’s have yet to make a ruling on which goalie would be handed the keys to the net once the postseason gets underway. 

“I think we’ve relied on both of them,” Cassidy said. “They’ve both played well, for the most part. Linus, right now, has been more consistent than Jeremy of late. This is Jeremy’s first real, since he’s been here — he’s been pretty steady and it's a little bit of a blip here. And we’re going to allow him to play through it. And hopefully, he finds it again and we go right down to the wire with good choices in that regard. We’re still, I guess if you’re asking, if we’re thinking ahead to the playoffs, who would be the guy? We’re undecided right now. Could be both. Not sure yet.”

For Boston, it sure seems like a good problem to have.

Of course, much as how Ullmark orchestrated this recent resurgence over the last few weeks, Swayman could follow a similar script — peaking at the right time as Boston begins its postseason push. 

But as Swayman works through his recent struggles and irons them out through game reps and practice sessions, Ullmark can serve as the club’s on-ice life preserver for the time being — keeping Boston in the hunt for the prime playoff seeding.

"It's just fun,” Ullmark said postgame. “It's fun to play these sort of games when it's getting closer to the playoff and you're actually a part of it. There is a lot at stake. There are still 11 games to go to focus on. Not trying to get ahead of ourselves or anything like that. We try and battle for home-ice advantage and we gotta bring it every night.”

Or, of course, should Swayman still appear mortal over these next 11 games, Ullmark could continue to stake his claim as Boston’s best option in net once the calendar flips to May. 

Whichever option plays out — be it a Swayman rebound or Ullmark’s continued surge — the Bruins stand to benefit. 

“Just everything a little more on his toes lately," Cassidy said of Ullmark. "So good. That's what we want. They have a world-class goaltender, you're going to need a great game from that position if you're gonna beat Tampa, typically. And I thought it was a good goaltenders battle tonight, we just we were just one better.”