Bruins Goalie Ullmark Won’t Be Afraid To Chirp Old Sabres Teammates

New Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark won’t be afraid to chirp his former teammates when he makes his first start for the Bruins against his former team, the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night (7 PM ET, ESPN+, Hulu).

After the Boston Bruins held their Thursday afternoon practice in advance of tonight’s game in Buffalo against the undefeated Sabres, Ullmark told the media, if given a reason, he’ll talk it up out there in hopes of getting under the skin of the only team he’s played for until tonight.

“If they start talking, I’ll talk, too. But I’ll just try to keep it to myself. I don’t want to get too riled up.,” Ullmark said.

This was in response to his former teammate Rasmus Dahlin saying this about Ullmark:

“I will do everything I can to score because I like scoring on him. He talks a lot of (crap),” he said. “I just like scoring on him.”

The Boston Bruins are hoping Ullmark can finally do all his talking with his performance between the pipes. After signing a four-year, $20 million with the Bruins this past offseason, Ullmark has struggled to acclimate himself to his new team and environment following six losing seasons in Buffalo. His preseason ended with an epic blunder that led to the overtime winner for the New York Rangers and the 28-year-old goalie is hoping he can finally round into form with the games counting in the standings.

“It’s getting better every day. It’s a work in progress,” Ullmark said Thursday. “I’m one of the new guys for once. They are taking good care of me, there’s a lot of conversations on and off the ice that just makes it more and more automatic, I would say, instead of having to think about what to do out there…very impressed about how the guys are going to battle for each other every single day.”

Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has seen signs that Ullmark is ready to go to battle for his teammates and has loved how the elder Ullmark has bonded with rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman.

“He comes to the rink in a good mood every day,” said Cassidy. “Him and Swayman – I think that’s his most important relationship…two guys we see as our future, so they seem to be in a good place with one another, competing with one another, knowing that the net is available.”

To Ullmark, that’s just doing what an NHL player and teammate is supposed to do.

“I’m the same guy with a different paycheck,” said Ullmark. “There’s nothing going on off the ice that I haven’t done before. That’s what got me here. If I start doing something else, I’m not gonna be in the league for long.