Linus Ullmark was the Bruins' MVP in Winter Classic

BOSTON -- For the bulk of the first two periods on Monday, Bruins fans can be forgiven if they were a little uninspired by the play on the ice during the Winter Classic.

It was, to be frank, a little boring.

But if not for Linus Ullmark showing up ready to play, it could have been a whole lot worse.

The 29-year-old Swede showed on the game's largest regular-season stage that the Bruins' red-hot first half of the season has not all been about goal-scoring. A major part of the success has had to do with the man between the pipes for the lion's share of their victories.

In this one, Ullmark was one Bruin who showed up on time, turning aside 14 Pittsburgh shots in the scoreless opening period.

Those shots included a tricky doorstep bid from Jake Guentzel on the opening shift, a point-blank wrister from the right dot from Brock McGinn, a doorstep bid from Ty Smith followed immediately by a shot through traffic from the blue line from Bryan Rust, a redirected tip by Rust off a hard shot from Sidney Crosby, and a slap shot from the point through traffic from Jan Rutta. There is such a thing as a run-of-the-mill 14-save first period. This was not one of them. The degree of difficulty was high.

And if even one of those pucks had gotten past Ullmark, there's no telling how the game might have played out. Nobody in Boston needs to be reminded of the 2016 Winter Classic, when the Bruins fell behind 74 seconds into the game and never recovered, en route to a 5-1 defeat.

Largely because of Ullmark, that scenario didn't play out at Fenway.

Ullmark finally allowed a goal just before the midway point of the second period, a bang-bang one-timer from the goalmouth on which he didn't have much of a chance. Yet despite the 1-0 deficit after two periods, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery recognized that his team could have been in a much worse position.

"If it wasn't for him," Montgomery said of Ullmark, "we'd probably be down 3-0 after two. And you're not gonna come back in those situations very often."

Yet because Ullmark was sharp, the Bruins trailed by just a goal. His composure in particular stood out late in the second period when Kasperi Kapanen -- the lone goal scorer in the game to that point -- walked in front of the net all alone with the puck. Ullmark, as he's done all year, stayed with the puck and calmly turned aside the shot from close quarters.

From there, the team with the best third-period goal differential in the NHL was able to do what it tends to do with the game on the line. Jake DeBrusk scored seconds after a power play expired, and he tallied the game-winner with just 2:24 left in regulation to lift the Bruins to the 2-1 win.

But the game ended just as it started, with the Bruins relying on Ullmark to turn aside some high-quality bids from Pittsburgh in the final seconds. He stopped a point shot with a man in front with 10 seconds left in the game, and then he stopped a one-time bid from the right dot with 2.5 seconds left. The Penguins finally got a puck through Ullmark ... but not until the clock had already hit zero.

With that, Ullmark improved his record to an utterly ridiculous 21-1-1 on the season.

No other goalie has won more than 18 games this season, and the two who have won 18 games also have three or four more starts than Ullmark.

Ullmark also lowered his goals-against average to 1.86, which is the best in the league. Among goaltenders with at least 20 games played, Ilya Sorokin ranks second with a 2.30 GAA -- almost a half-goal higher than Ullmark.

And with 26 saves on 27 Pittsburgh shots, Ullmark inched his save percentage up to .939, which is also best in the league. Among goalies with at least 20 games played, Connor Hellebuyck ranks second at .928.

"His consistency -- his elite consistency -- has been unreal," Montgomery gushed about Ullmark after the win. "He gives us the ability to win every night. And I think that's why he has [21] wins."

The notion of Ullmark being the MVP of the Bruins would rightly be debated. David Pastrnak has 25 goals and 50 points in 37 games. Brad Marchand has 31 points in just 29 games. Hampus Lindholm has been absolutely immense on the blue line, particularly during Charlie McAvoy's absence to start the year. And Patrice Bergeron is Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins are the best team in the league -- with a six-point lead over the second-best team -- because of the combined contributions of the entire roster, with Ullmark sitting among the most important.

But league-wide, in terms of goaltender contributions this season, nobody's been on Ullmark's level. It's all now far too much for the league at large to ignore; he's just been this good and this consistent all year.

Two months ago, it was too soon to say Ullmark belonged in a legitimate Vezina conversation. Even a month ago, many national voices might have been hesitant to sit Ullmark among the likes if Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck. And if there was newcomer to the pack of elites, it was going to be the Islanders' Ilya Sorokin, who's had a wonderful statistical season but doesn't have the sparkling win-loss record to show for it.

But now as the season heads into the unofficial second half, Ullmark's performance can't be denied by anyone. His performance on that stage made sure of that.