BOSTON — Linus Ullmark knows how difficult it is to play — and win — at TD Garden. But he helped the Senators to victory in his first game against the Bruins since being traded by Boston in June with a 14-save performance in Ottawa’s 3-2 overtime win Saturday night.
“It’s a statement game,” Ullmark said after the game. “We just have to learn that this is the sort of the game we have to play every single night, not just sometimes here and there.”
Ullmark didn’t face a shot from the Bruins in the third period, but faced one quickly in overtime and he made a tremendous save on an Elias Lindholm 2-on-1 chance. The stop ultimately led to Brady Tkachuk’s game-winning goal.
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“He’s a monster,” Ullmark said of Tkachuk.
But it was the goalie that earned heaps of praise from his teammates after the Senators snapped their two-game losing streak.
“We don’t get the two points if it’s not for Ullmark’s save in overtime there,” Tkachuk said. “Just what a save at the right time.”
Tkachuk said the Senators knew the importance of Saturday’s game and what it meant to Ullmark. There wasn’t a specific message to their goalie, but knew in the backs of their heads that while it was a game Ullmark circled on the calendar.
“You could feel that he wanted it really bad tonight and that just was contagious to us to want to get it done for him,” Tkachuk said. “… You can just kind of feel how important it is for them to play against their buddies and old teammates. The best way to do that is to come into their barn and win a game.”
