Bruins 2/28/23 RECAP: Bruins play the worst possible game they could, Linus Ullmark stands on his head, and Boston wins anyway 4-3 in OT.

H O W

First Period

If you can believe it, the Bruins actually scored the first two goals of this game, both from Dmitri Orlov early in the period...

...and then late in the period.

To set the Bruins up 2-0 heading into the second period!

Second Period:

After that, Linus Ullmark basically became this game for Boston. Unfortunately, that meant everybody else was left scrambling as the Flames effectively laid seige to Ullmark’s crease. A siege that finally yielded results as Blake Coleman got Calgary on the board early on.

But only just get on the board.

Thankfully, the B’s held this lead against all odds, and onto the third where everything seemed to go downhill fast.

Third Period:

Dillon Dube finally broke the dam halfway through the period as he tied the game 2-2.

And then Jonathan Huberdeau (initially this was credited to Pelletier) got the Flames ahead.

And really, that should’ve been it. To any other team, this should’ve been the moment of truth where the better team took full control of this game and won it outright. There would be no victory for Ullmark’s unbelievable, franchise-record breaking game.

But then, the Bruins had a power play.

How did we get here.

Overtime:

No seriously...how the f#!k did this happen.

Boston, some how, some way, won this game 4-3 in OT.

Game Notes:

• Your TOI Leader was Hampus Lindholm with 24:13 TOI
• The -1rd Star, the Neutronium crafted monster construct which blots out all others in this game, was Linus Ullmark. A .947% SV% where the Boston Bruins barely supported him at all if ever in this game. He made exceptional save after exceptional save every single shift it felt like. This game was his and his alone, and his Vezina candidacy went from finalist to almost assured winner. Send it in Game 81, we’ll have champagne and a party.
• The Boston Bruins got their collective ass kicked in this one. Every single player that wasn’t Orlov or Ullmark by the end of it looked gassed from minute one and played every single minute after like they were succumbing to a wasting disease in real time. They absolutely should’ve lost this game by no less than six goals. They didn’t. Even at their absolute worst, the Boston Bruins are still better than you, and can still put it together at just the right time to win it all. That is the sign of quality. That is the sign of championship ambition. A baseline ability to win that is impossible to ignore. Well done.
• Hey, Dmitri Orlov with a solid 3 points in this game, including creating the all-important 2-0 lead that the Bruins effectively sat on for the rest of it. He’s acclimating well to his time as a Bruin, I think!
• Not for nothing but Charlie McAvoy tied Ray Bourque for most OT winners by a B’s defenseman tonight. That’s pretty cool to see little records like that get broken finally nearly 20 years after the man who set them retired. It’s a sure sign of the magnificent future he will have with this team.
• B’s get a much needed day off tomorrow and come home during the afternoon. Whatever their meal plans, it’d better involve ensuring Linus doesn’t pay a cent for his day.

Bruins finally come home on Thursday to face the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden, that game is at 7pm EST!

We’ll see you there!