Earlier this week, it was unmistakable hearing Jim Montgomery loudly and colorfully berate his team during a practice drill at Warrior Ice Arena.
Montgomery was warning his group that teams were going to be “[expletive] pumping in six goals a game” against them if they didn’t tighten things up defensively in transition, where they have generously allowed odd-man rushes to opponents all season. It feels like the message was received as the Bruins played tight, wrinkle-free defense against the Nashville Predators before exploding late for three goals in a 3-0 defensive clinic win on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
The stat sheet said that Linus Ullmark made 31 saves in the shutout win and he was, of course, solid between the pipes.
But it was as much, or more, about a Bruins team hustling, winning battles and paying attention to the details while killing off a pair of Nashville power plays along with shutdown defense for all 60 minutes during 5-on-5 play. It was also about the Bruins continuing to tinker with a monster top pairing of Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm that's effectively able to lock down the other team's best offensive players.
“It’s huge because those are playoff-type games where it’s 0-0, low-scoring, whatever it is. It’s kind of a battle to see which team is going to break first. That’s the stuff we kind of talk about in between periods and on the bench,” said Charlie Coyle, who scored the game-winning goal on a shorthanded strike after scoring just two goals in 14 games during the month of March. “Overall, you don’t want to stray away from your game, and we figured we would get our opportunities if we just stuck to it.
“No frustration. Sometimes it just takes some time, you know? You see it pay off for us when we do that, and we trust our game and we keep playing the right way.”
The same B’s bench boss that had been issuing dire warnings about their defense just days prior was now guiding them through this true late-season test in Nashville.
"It was great. Monty came in between the second and third and told us not to get impatient, we were playing a good game to that point and playing the right way,” said Brandon Carlo. “Especially in the third, we stuck to our details and our process. It resulted in success. It was a good building block.
“It’s a big building block, so we’re going to take it for what it is and keep on moving forward.”
It’s easier to play that way when the goaltending is in peak form as it has been with Ullmark between the pipes since the NHL All-Star break. Ullmark is now 4-3-1 with a 1.57 goals against average and a .947 save percentage in his last eight appearances and was at his best while stopping all 14 Nashville shots he faced in the third period while Nashville was desperately trying to get one past him.
Ully was outstanding 👌
— x - Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 3, 2024
The best stops from his 31-save shutout in Nashville ⤵️#NHLBruins | @Icebeardude pic.twitter.com/b1VU6TcqLV
It continues a run that leaves the Bruins organization with a difficult choice to make about the starting goaltender for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, as Jeremy Swayman puts the finishing touches on an All-Star season where he’s notched big wins over the Maple Leafs and Panthers over the last few weeks. The numbers, however, for Swayman aren’t nearly as good lately as they have been for Ullmark.
“Spectacular,” said Jim Montgomery said of Ullmark’s performance against the Predators. “You know, I thought their goalie was really good, too. But our goalie was like an onslaught. He had to be down in his crouch, he had to be finding pucks through a lot of traffic and a lot of great plays that they were able to make at times. He made some saves look easy.”
It will add up to another late-season challenge for the B’s when they head to Carolina for a Thursday night road tilt, and Swayman will get a chance to build on his momentum of wins over both Florida and Washington. On Tuesday night it was about Ullmark playing a calm, technical game against the Predators while a team defensive effort didn’t let up many odd man rushes in front of him.
That was a vast difference from earlier in the season when the B’s would get the results, but it was more about the goalies standing on their heads for long periods at a time than the team playing airtight defense in front of them.
“It’s not just good vibes for me. You’ve got to look at the team game being played in front of me as well. We played a full 60 minutes and showed we don’t get frustrated easily,” Ullmark said. “We kept sticking with it. We did a great job penalty killing as well, and obviously a couple of clutch goals from [Coyle and Pavel Zacha]. That was really nice.”
It was Carlo, with the game still scoreless at that point, that stepped up in the third period and swept a puck away from danger after a Mason Lohrei backhanded clearing attempt predictably came right back toward the Boston net.
“Just coming around the net. Seeing the play develop, I saw three guys barreling down. My job is to let [Ullmark] see a shot at some point, so I’m just trying to take away [passing] seams,” said Carlo. “I was just lucky enough to get a hand on the second one. Thankful to make those defensive plays, but Linus did an outstanding job tonight so he might have been able to get over there to make the save [anyway]…who knows?”
With six games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins are still fine-tuning things and even rolling with the punches like Justin Brazeau suffering an upper-body injury early in the Nashville win that could knock him out of action for a while.
But it looks like Montgomery was able to get the Bruins' attention when it comes to the defensive details that had been lacking at times as of late, and it led to a perfectly executed shutout win against a Predators club that’s played their way into the playoff picture in the second half of the season.
Everything about Tuesday night’s defensively sound win over Nashville was an encouraging sign when it comes to Boston’s hopes for the looming postseason.
