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BHN Talking Points

Talking Points: Bruins Overcome Slow Start For ‘Character’ Win

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Boston Bruins

NEWARK, NJ – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night.

GOLD STAR: The Boston Bruins don’t win on Wednesday night if Linus Ullmark wasn’t standing on his head for long stretches of the game when mismanaged pucks were turning into scoring chances for the Devils. He made 16 saves in the first period to keep the Devils off the board and finished with 29 saves overall including a couple of sequences where everybody in the B’s dressing room agreed he was standing on his head.

Ullmark is now a ridiculous 20-1-1 on the season and continues to lead the league in goals against average and save percentage while playing the best hockey of his career to this point. He also did this, which is pretty impressive.

BLACK EYE: Former first round pick Michael McLeod gets the dishonorable mention this time around in a game where he wasn’t much of a factor in the good category and had a game-changing turnover when he threw a puck to Hampus Lindholm at the New Jersey blue line after narrowly winning a puck battle over Pavel Zacha. Lindholm then dropped the puck to a trailing Trent Frederic for the sniper shot from the high slot for the eventual game-winning goal that turned it all around for the Boston Bruins on the blue line turnover. McLeod finished with zero shots on net and a minus-1 while losing 5-of-8 draws in a really underwhelming performance all around.

TURNING POINT: For the Bruins it was surviving in the first period and the early second period when things weren’t going well for them and watching Linus Ullmark pull a series of saves out of his hat after losing his stick during the scramble around the net. Once the Bruins got through that sequence unscathed, they knew they were going to be in the game against the Devils while being allowed some time to get their bearings. Then there was this sequence in the second period as well…my goodness.

HONORABLE MENTION: Hampus Lindholm didn’t have a perfect night as the four giveaways would attest to, but he was still very strong while serving up the primary assists on both of Boston’s first two goals that staked them to a lead they wouldn’t give up prior to Pavel Zacha’s second straight game with a goal on an empty netter. Lindholm threw a drop pass to Trent Frederic for the first goal after he snagged a puck at the offensive blue line, and then then he fired a quick wrister from the point that Patrice Bergeron got a tip on for the game-winning goal for the Black and Gold.

BY THE NUMBERS: 20-1-1 – the amazing record for Linus Ullmark this season as he continues to backstop the Boston Bruins to wins in tightly-contested games like the one against New Jersey on Wednesday night.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “We showed a lot of character tonight. We want to be better, but we stuck with it and found ways to stay in the game. We collapsed a lot, we blocked a lot of shots and we did things we had to do to get the results. I think that’s what you’re going to see moving forward [this season].” –Patrice Bergeron on a game where the Boston Bruins worked through some early puck management issues to outlast the Devils.

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