Sens' Ullmark surprises himself with incredible save: 'I was just laughing'
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Times are good right now in the nation's capital as the Ottawa Senators continue to strive toward their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2016-17 season.
Drake Batherson netted two goals as the Sens doubled up the Boston Bruins 6-3 on Thursday to secure their fifth straight victory and extend their lead atop the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Ottawa (35-25-5) now holds a five-point advantage over the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers with the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Bruins also staying in contention.
Despite an impressive offensive output on Thursday, the win was highlighted by a save of the year candidate from Senators goalie Linus Ullmark.
With the Senators leading 5-3 near the end of the second period, Bruins forward Marat Khusnutdinov made a nice cross-ice pass to defenceman Mason Lohrei, who seemingly had an open net to score from the faceoff dot. Lohrei hammered the one-timer, but Ullmark dove across the crease and stretched out for the miraculous glove safe.
The 31-year-old Swedish goalie, who will begin his new four-year, $33 million contract with the Sens next season, even surprised himself with the save.
“I was just laughing,” Ullmark told NHL.com. “Like, sometimes you wonder, ‘How did that happen?’ Like, what happened in the prior [play], how did I get here and sort of just have to smile and laugh about it because you saved it and then let it go and focus on the next one, because you don't want to make a brilliant save like that and end up having a bad goal right after, just because you're so caught up in the moment of, ‘Oh, I'm feeling like a stud now, after making that save,’ or something.”
Bruins forward Casey Mittelstadt said the save was almost deflating for his team.
“To be honest, yeah, it is [deflating]. Obviously, any time someone makes that big of a save, it’s pretty uncommon, especially with what seemed like an empty net," he said. "So, yeah, it’s deflating for sure, I think. That would’ve put us within one.”
Ullmark, who has won his last four starts, has been a big part of the Senators turnaround this season as the franchise has struggled for years to find consistent play between the pipes.
The former Bruins and Buffalo Sabres goalie has a 17-11-3 record with a 2.68 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage alongside three shutouts over 33 games this season.
“Oh my god, he's such a stud,” Senators defenceman Tyler Kleven said of Ullmark. “I mean, he's such a big part of this team and he wins us a lot of games.”
Ottawa will now travel to Toronto for a massive Saturday night clash against the Maple Leafs. The Senators are 2-0 against the Leafs this season.