As one would expect in a matchup between Juuse Saros and Linus Ullmark, goals were indeed at a premium in Tuesday’s showdown between the Bruins and Predators at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
It was the kind of tight-checking, zero-room-out-there game that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has consistently warned their club about becoming the new norm down the stretch and into the postseason. And for the Bruins, it was less than 12 minutes away from being the team’s first 0-0 game in nearly 15 years.
Yet, powered by three goals in the final 6:42 of regulation, the Bruins did what they had to ensure themselves of a victory, and escaped Nashville with two points.
For the Bruins, this game was really about the performance of Ullmark.
On the board with 31 saves by the night's end, Ullmark had to be the B's best player in the first, second, and third period of play in this contest. And he was exactly that, turning aside all of Nashville's high-danger looks, and getting that whistle when the B's needed it.
LINUS! LINUS! 🗣ï¸
— NHL (@NHL) April 3, 2024
Linus Ullmark (@Icebeardude) was perfect between the pipes for his second @pepsi shutout of the season! pic.twitter.com/IdBRLnWD5O
With the win, Ullmark snapped what was a two-game losing streak for himself, and improved to 4-2-0 with a .950 save percentage since the 2024 trade deadline passed.
Brazeau leaves with injury
Tuesday night in Nashville came with about as professional a win as the Bruins could have wanted against a surging Preds team.
But it also came with some bad news for the Bruins, who lost winger Justin Brazeau to an upper-body injury early, and without an encouraging update from the Bruins following the 3-0 victory.
Hard to tell exactly where he's hurting, but losing Brazeau right now would be a significant loss for the Bruins https://t.co/RE4j1qQ69J pic.twitter.com/Jgttrktozg
— Bear With Me (@BearWithMe_Pod) April 3, 2024
“Upper-body, we’ll have more [info] in the coming days about length and stuff,… Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “But we really don’t have much besides that right now.…
With the Bruins for the last month and a half, Brazeau has been a late-season surprise (and a half), with five goals and seven points through 19 NHL appearances. Brazeau’s presence has been so notable that even talking about the big-bodied wing a few weeks ago, Montgomery noted that there’s only been one game where Brazeau didn’t live up to the expectations the team has for him. (For a coach to say that about a first-year pro is just unbelievably rare.)
In addition to his five goals and seven points, the 6-foot-5 Brazeau has racked up 43 hits and 12 blocked shots, and had received frequent in-game promotions up the Boston depth chart in recent outings.
The fact that the Bruins weren’t quick to label Brazeau as day to day alone is concerning, and Montgomery’s comments seem to confirm that there’s some sort of somewhat extended (by this time of year, anyway) timeline ahead of him.
If Brazeau is unavailable for any extended stretch, the focus could shift on the Bruins getting Pat Maroon up to game speed perhaps even quicker than originally anticipated (the Bruins had targeted Apr. 13 against Pittsburgh as the ‘best case scenario’ for Maroon). But if that is something the Bruins aren’t particularly interested in, the team can simply make both Jakub Lauko and James van Riemsdyk fixtures in their lineups and stop the in-and-out rotation they’ve had with both players of late.
Everything else
- Bruins center Charlie Coyle continues to take his opportunity to be a top-six center for this club and simply run with it. On the scoresheet with what proved to be the game-winning shorthanded strike, Coyle is now up to a career-high 57 points this season.
- The Bruins decided to sit Matt Grzelcyk for Mason Lohrei in this contest. It wasn't exactly a horrible showing for Lohrei (and in just his third appearance since Mar. 14), but it wasn't exactly the one Lohrei needed to have to truly force his name into the conversation this time of year. It really feels like Lohrei is the true No. 8 on the defensive depth chart right now.
- David Pasrtrnak's 200-foot game has been phenomenal of late. I hope it's not going unnoticed by those who constantly harp on his giveaways.
Up next: The Bruins will head to Carolina for a showdown with the Hurricanes.
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, HockeyBuzz.com or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.