Report: Linus Ullmark played for Bruins despite "debilitating" injury in playoffs
BOSTON -- At the end of a postseason, news always trickles out about which injuries players were dealing with during the run. With Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark, his exact ailment is not yet known, but it appears to have been a serious one.
According to ESPN's Kevin Weekes, Ullmark played in the postseason despite a "debilitating painful injury that limited his mobility and technique."
@NHLBruins . Like all teams ; players grit it out to play through major injuries in the Playoffs. My sources tell me soon to be Vezina G Ullmark was playing through a debilitating & painful injury that limited his mobility and technique. @espn @NHL @NHLNetwork #HockeyTwitter
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) May 1, 2023
What that means exactly is not yet known. Not fully, anyway. But it does immediately call into question why the Bruins, head coach Jim Montgomery and goaltender coach Bob Essensa opted to ride Ullmark as the primary goaltender for Games 1-6 of Boston's series against the Florida Panthers.
Ullmark first showed sign of an injury somewhere in his midsection in the second-to-last game of the regular season on April 11. Ullmark left that game in the third period and was replaced by Jeremy Swayman, who started the Bruins' regular-season finale two days later.
Montgomery said that Ullmark's removal was precautionary, and he was chosen as the team's starter for Game 1 against Florida. He was excellent in the series opener, stopping 31 of 32 shots faced, but allowed five goals on just 29 shots against in Game 2. Ullmark was spectacular in Games 3 and 4 in Florida, stopping 70 of 74 Florida shots and even getting in the mix with Matthew Tkachuk late in Game 4.
But Ullmark allowed 10 goals on just 57 shots faced in Games 5 and 6 combined, with the Bruins losing both contests. That led to the Bruins inserting Swayman for Game 7, after he hadn't started a game for more than two weeks. Swayman stopped 27 of 31 shots in the overtime loss in Game 7.
"We just, you know, thought he was gonna give us the best chance tonight," Montgomery said after Game 7. "You'd have to ask Goalie Bob a little more in detail about that, but we all thought that he was going to give us the best opportunity tonight."
After a regular season with a .938 save percentage and 1.89 GAA, Ullmark posted an .896 save percenteage and 3.33 GAA in six postseason games.
Some more specific details on the injury are sure to emerge in the coming days, but it does appear that Ullmark was not at or close 100 percent while playing in this playoff series.