BSJ Game Report: Bruins 2, Ducks 1 (SO) - Ullmark saves day as B’s escape with two points

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 2-1 shootout win over the Ducks, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Ullmark bails Boston out: The good news? After relinquishing seven goals on Tuesday night, the Bruins tightened things up against the Ducks on Thursday at TD Garden, limiting Anaheim to just one tally and four high-danger scoring chances at 5v5 play. 

The bad news? Boston’s potent offense (5.25 goals per game through four contests) also dried up against John Gibson — with a lack of finishing and poor execution on the power play keeping the visitors in a contest that should have been an easy two points for the B’s. 

"Offensively we've got a lot of players that can make plays,” Jim Montgomery said. “We just didn't make clean plays tonight. I thought the puck movement was slow, five on five and especially on the power play."

Thankfully, the Bruins didn’t let a winnable game slip through their grasp, due in large part to another stellar performance in net from Linus Ullmark. Ullmark, now 3-0-0 on the season, stopped 30 of the 31 shots that came his way in the win — including five stops in overtime. 

“Gave us an opportunity to get two points,” Montgomery said of Ullmark.  I think he's done it every night he's been in the net. He's had a great start to the year."

Studnicka fails to stick: Matt Grzelcyk’s return to game action close to a week ahead of schedule from his offseason surgery might have been the most important addition to Boston’s lineup on Thursday night, but the lineup addition that caused the greatest ripple effect came further down the depth chart. 

In an effort to get Jack Studnicka in game action after tabbing him as a healthy scratch for four games, Montgomery opted to reshuffle most of his bottom-six unit — inserting Studnicka at center while pushing Charlie Coyle over to right wing.

“It's his first game and you want to put him in situations to succeed,” Montgomery said of Studnicka. “He's used to playing center, so we're gonna put him there and Charlie's used to playing wing."

Unfortunately, Studncika did not have the game he would have liked — only logging 8:01 of ice time and committing two penalties. During his limited ice time, his giveaway led to an odd-man rush and the lone Ducks goal of the game, a snipe off the stick of Frank Vatrano. 

"I don't think Jack had his best night,” Montgomery said. “But our team didn't. He wasn't alone, right? But we found a way to get two points. It's a hard league to win in and we're gonna enjoy the two points but we're not going to be happy with the team play.”

FOUR UP

Linus Ullmark: The Bruins likely don’t snag any points in this one if it wasn’t for the play of Ullmark in net. 

Taylor Hall: After a couple of very quiet and ineffective showings earlier this week, it was good to see Taylor Hall get back on the board with his second-period strike — in what was a bit of a gift from Gibson. The eventual game-winner in the shootout was the icing on the cake. Still, it’s worth monitoring Hall’s play over the next stretch of games, as he does still seem to be nursing that upper-body injury he suffered during preseason play.

"I thought Taylor Hall was our best skater tonight,” Montgomery said. “Linus was our best player. I thought he was hard. I thought he protected pucks. I bet you he had the puck on his stick for about 45 seconds tonight. And when a gifted offensive player like Taylor Hall has the puck on his stick a lot, he feels better about himself. And then you saw the rest of his game  —like he made some good defensive plays and the hard hit. He was really involved in the game."

Jake DeBrusk: His first-period tally was quickly called back due to offside, but DeBrusk was a sparkplug on what was a pretty sleepy night at the Garden, winning a number of puck battles down low while using his speed to extend some promising O-zone shifts. DeBrusk finished with nine shots on goal in the win. 

Lindholm-Grzelcyk pairing: With the right side of Boston’s defense decimated with injuries, something had to give when it came to Montgomery pushing more of his left-shot blueliners over to the right side. As such, Grzelcyk was eventually placed next to Lindholm on Boston’s top pairing — and the duo more than held their own. Despite starting a majority of their shifts in Boston’s end (33.3 offensive zone start percentage), the Bruins held a 1-0 edge in goals scored when this duo was on the ice. 

"Really good,” Montgomery said of Grzelcyk.” He was so good that we moved him up there, I think, 10 minutes into the game. Good hockey player. Good to have him back.”

TWO DOWN

Jack Studnicka: Well, that sure wasn’t the season debut that Studnicka was looking for. The B’s forward had a brutal second period — coughing up a puck that led to a 2-on-1 Ducks rush (and eventually, a goal), while later committing an offensive-zone penalty. And then, after not playing for most of the third, Studnicka was whistled for another penalty on his first shift back on the ice. Not good. 

Power play: The Bruins could have made things much easier on themselves had they cashed in on the man advantage — going 0-for-5 on the evening. So far this season, the Bruins are 19th in the league with a 17.7 percent success rate on the man advantage. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue this homestand on Saturday with a matinee matchup against the Wild. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.