Talking Points: Ullmark Clutch Again; DeBrusk Celly Extra Sweet

Here’s your Talking Points after a 3-1 win for the Boston Bruins over the Vegas Golden Knights:

GOLD STAR: Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark made 30 saves for his 16th win. He has arguably been the MVP of this historic Bruins 2022-23 season. There’s no doubt David Pastrnak is in that conversation and even captain Patrice Bergeron, who scored his 10th goal in this game. Ullmark continues to be calm under pressure and be a backbone when the team needs one. On Sunday, (as mentioned below), Ullmark withstood a wave of shots and momentum in the latter half of the second period to help the Bruins bust the game open in the final frame and finish their three-game road trip.

BLACK EYE: Once again, we were reminded of how much the NHL still needs to do to protect its superstars. Whether some factions of the NHL media and fans want to admit it, Brad Marchand is an NHL superstar and his stats since the 2017-18 season prove it. So please tell me why, right in front of three officials, Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud is allowed to go WWE on Marchand?

No penalty on this wrestling move on Brad Marchand at end of the 1st period. Refs about to lose control of this one pic.twitter.com/3FuNFdruW9

— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) December 12, 2022

TURNING POINT: After the Bruins came out and tied the game 3:54 into the second period, they continued to dominate the play, out-shooting the Golden Knights 10-2 over the first seven minutes of the middle frame. The Knights stopped that momentum in a hurry though and with a span of the next seven minutes, Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark made two point blank stops on breakaways from Golden Knights defenseman Ben Hutton and forward William Carrier. Vegas kept the heat on but Ullmark held down the fort and paved the way for the Bruins to pull away in the third period.

Why is Linus Ullmark not getting more Vezina love amongst the national hockey media?@BOSHockeyNow https://t.co/RytzQVsfdu

— MurphysLaw74 (@MurphysLaw74) December 12, 2022

HONORABLE MENTION: Jake DeBrusk was held off thee scoresheet in his first game against his former head coach and hadn’t scored a goal since the game before that, in a 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. So was it any surprise he’s be a man on a mission against the coach many still believe was the reason he requested and then rescinded a trade request because of. DeBrusk was in beast mode Sunday night, scoring the game-winning goal and finishing with two shots and a team-leading six hits.

Jake DeBrusk cranks home the gorgeous cross-crease dish from Pavel Zacha, giving Boston the lead in the third!#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/U5kY1j7C2J

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 12, 2022

BY THE NUMBERS: 45 – The Boston Bruins out-hit the Golden Knights 45-26. Think about that. 45-26!

QUOTE TO NOTE: “Yeah a lot. I mean, it’s one of those things that. …yeah. …uh. …I mean it’s one of things that pure emotion and. …uh. …yeah, it felt really good. I’ll take that. It was awesome.” – Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk when asked by NESN rinkside reporter Sophia Jurksztowicz about his seemingly extra satisfaction in his goal celebration. Yeah, that had nothing to do with Bruce Cassidy eh?