Linus Ullmark stops his former Boston teammates for big win
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It’s five alive for the Ottawa Senators.
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Trying to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years, the Senators extended their winning streak to five with a 6-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night in front of 17,458 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Bruins refused to go quietly, but a three-point night from winger Drake Batherson along with goals from Claude Giroux, Ridly Greig, Tyler Kleven and Shane Pinto resulted in another in a long line of big wins for the Senators.
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It was the club’s 20th win at home this season and it came in head coach Travis Green’s 400th career game behind the bench.
Ottawa is finding ways to win at the right time of the year. The club is 11-5-1 in its last 17 games.
PLAYOFF FEEL
This run by the Senators has brought this city to life.
The club extended its streak to 6-0-1 in its past seven games and inched closer to making the post-season for the first since 2017. This group doesn’t get rattled easily and every point is paramount.
The fans were on their feet after goaltender Linus Ullmark made what might have been the National Hockey League’s save of the year by getting across to rob Mason Lohrei with a glove late in the second.
The Senators are doing this the right way. They’re getting timely scoring and contributions from everybody. The club has outscored the opposition 20-12 during this winning streak.
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A FAMILIAR FOE
After a night off in Philly, Ullmark returned to face his former teammates.
Traded to the Senators after spending three years with the Bruins, Ullmark faced Boston for the second time this season. He came into this game with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
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He was out with a back injury for the club’s 6-5 shootout win in Ottawa on Jan. 18 and 2-0 loss on Jan. 23 in Boston. Ullmark made 14 stops in a 3-2 OT win on Nov. 9 in Boston.
This was Ullmark’s ninth start in 10 games, and he came in with a 4-0-1 record this month. He made 48 stops in Monday’s 2-1 win over Detroit.
Ullmark made a sequence of three big stops midway through the third as the Bruins pressed to try to get back into this one. The Senators need Ullmark to be reliable and that’s what he has given them.
Marat Khusnutdinov ended up alone on Ullmark to close the gap to 5-3 with 6:05 left in the second. Batherson’s second of the game at 11:01 of the second had given the club a 5-2.
David Pastrnak pulled the Bruins within two goals with his 34th of the year at 6:59 of the second. That cut Ottawa’s lead to 4-2 and came on a tip in front that Ullmark had no chance on.
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RACING TO THE FINISH
The Bruins are in the mix for one of the final wild-card spots and are one of four teams that went into Thursday within six points of the Senators.
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The decision to send captain Brad Marchand has left many thinking that the Bruins have thrown in the towel on this season. The players left are trying to send a message to management that’s not the case.
The Bruins came in here with two straight wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers but the Senators sent a message early.
Two goals in 22 seconds gave the Senators a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes and they outshot the Bruins 16-4. Jeremy Swayman was replaced by Linus Korpisalo in the second.
Greig was alone in front to push a rebound by Swayman with 3:37 left in the first. Batherson scored his first since Feb. 4 on a one-timer on the power play to extend the club’s lead back to two goals.
Not long after Kleven gave the Senators a 2-0 lead by firing a blast by Swayman, Casey Mittlestadt scored his first since being traded to Boston by beating Ullmark on the third shot he faced at 11:13.
Pinto’s 16th of the year opened the scoring at 3:44 of the first. Ottawa had good pressure in the Bruins zone when he fired a shot that beat Swayman low. The Senators were 26-5-0 when scoring first coming into this.
“We’ve got good energy,” Greig told TSN’s Claire Hanna after the first. “We’ve got momentum and we’ve got to keep that going.”
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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