As concerning as the optics were when Linus Ullmark needed help getting off the ice Friday after Connor Clifton inadvertently landed atop him, fellow netminder Jeremy Swayman brushed off any concern about the health of Boston’s No. 1 goalie in the days ahead.
“He’ll be ok. He’s a big Swedish Viking,” Swayman said following Boston’s overtime victory over the Hurricanes.
Sure enough, Ullmark was back out on the frozen sheet at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday morning, with Jim Montgomery noting post-practice that Ullmark is not expected to miss any time despite leaving Friday’s game due to an upper-body ailment.
And Ullmark is far from the only B’s regular set to avoid the sting of the injury bug moving forward — as both Trent Frederic and Derek Forbort are both in play for Tuesday’s home matchup against the Lightning.
“Ullmark is good to play or for backup duty,” Montgomery said. “Frederic, we will reevaluate him and Forbort again tomorrow, but it seems like Frederic for sure will be an option to play.”
As impressive as Boston’s 18-3-0 start has been this season, you don’t need to be a hockey savant to discern how fortunate the B’s are that Ullmark is not expected to miss any time following Friday’s game.
Boston has a stout zone defense that tends to snuff out Grade-A chances with regularity — and getting Jeremy Swayman a steady dosage of reps in the short term could have been spun as a positive if Ullmark was going to land on the shelf.
But let’s face it, the Bruins are counting their blessings that their No. 1 netminder (who remains in play for Vezina Trophy consideration a quarter into the season) is not expected to miss any time, especially given the current gauntlet that Boston finds itself in when it comes to matchups against Tampa Bay, Colorado and Vegas over the next week.
Ullmark’s early return is the latest in a long stretch of good news that has fallen in Boston’s lap over the first six weeks of the 2022-23 campaign.
But the return of Forbort after close to four weeks on the mend from a broken finger can’t be understated when it comes to his value to this roster.
The Bruins have been no stranger to the injury bug this season, be it extensive offseason recoveries for Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk — or short-term absences for the likes of David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and Brandon Carlo.
But amid that extensive list of established NHLers who have missed some stretch of game action, who would have guessed that the loss of a stay-at-home blueliner in Forbort has caused the largest ripple in Boston’s otherwise sterling play?
Sure, Forbort doesn’t have the transition talents and O-zone ceiling of a McAvoy, nor does he have the hands and passing ability of a Marchand.
But in terms of Forbort’s talents — and especially his role — the 30-yard-old D-man’s presence has been sorely missed on Boston’s penalty-kill unit during his extended absence.
After some early bumps in the road, Boston’s power-play unit has been humming along as expected, tied for second in the NHL (next to Edmonton) with a 29.3 percent success rate on the man advantage.
But during those opening weeks in which Boston was getting its bearings on the power play, the B’s penalty kill was negating Grade-A chances with ease — going 35-for-37 during Forbort’s time as the top netfront monolith down low.
But since Forbort exited Boston’s comeback win over the Penguins on Nov. 1 after taking a puck off the hand, the B’s shorthanded unit has not just appeared mortal — it’s been downright pedestrian.
After coughing up another two power-play goals to Carolina on Friday (a Hurricanes squad that was in the midst of an 0-for-20 slump on the power play), the Bruins have now gone 35-for-46 on the penalty kill in the 11 games without Forbort in the lineup — with that kill rate standing at 76 percent.
That’s a sizable step back for this special-teams grouping, and given the murderers’ row of opponents set to arrive at the Garden in the coming days, Forbort’s return to that unit will be a welcome sight.
Of course, given the daunting task and disadvantage that all PK groupings are handed night in and night out, Montgomery did note that some of Boston’s recent dip in performance is a byproduct of their good fortune regressing back to the mean.
"The PK has given up goals and I said this after the (Panthers) game — You're gonna go through stretches where the puck goes in. It happens,” Montgomery said. “The structure of the PK has been fine. It's more of the habits of our players, like not stopping and starting — not pressuring as three together when those opportunities present themselves.
"It's just more staying with it. We've had turnovers even on the PK where we have chances to get it down and get off the ice and get fresh bodies on, which came back to bite us.”
Forbort’s presence doesn’t add a new element or game-breaking presence that completely augments the structure of Boston’s penalty kill.
But whether it be blocking shots in front of the net, making sound clears to get pucks out of danger areas or adding some heft to that netfront spot just in front of Ullmark/Swayman, those critical (and often underappreciated) plays can sometimes be the difference between a (relatively) stress-free two minutes for a goalie and a puck sailing into twine for the opposition.
Forbort’s potential return on Tuesday night might generate little fanfare, at least when compared to the pomp created when both Marchand and McAvoy laced up their skates once again.
But when factoring in Forbort’s impact in one of the few areas of Boston’s game that has taken a dip, his presence should offer a major lift to a B’s team that will need it against the likes of Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Jack Eichel over the next week.