The new-look Bruins made an imperfect debut, but they were fortunate enough to have to Linus Ullmark — and not just to stop the puck.
Ullmark made several huge saves down the stretch to protect a slim 2-1 lead in the third period against the Vancouver Canucks and then the netminder sealed the game with an empty-net goal from his own end to seal a 3-1 victory at Rogers Arena, the Bruins' sixth straight win.
It was Ullmark’s 30th win of the season and one that, not surprisingly, produced the most enthusiastic hug with goalie mate Jeremy Swayman. It was the first time a Bruins goalie has scored in goal in club history.
The game was closer than it should have been.
The Bruins were not only fully healthy for the first time since Jan. 2 with the return of Tomas Nosek, newcomers Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway were playing their first games as Bruins.
And the Bruins dominated the first period.
The Bruins pelted 21-year-old Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs with 20 shots in the first period and took a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals late in the second period.
It was the fourth line that Hathaway was skating on that drew the first power play when Guillaume Brisebois elbowed Nick Foligno in the corner. After the first PP unit came up empty despite a couple of good chances, the second unit cashed in when Hampus Lindholm hammered his seventh of the year through a screen past Silovs at 17:08.
Then the Bruins took control of the game when Brad Marchand scored his 19th. Patrice Bergeron won a faceoff and then mushed the up along the boards to Jake DeBrusk, who in turn banked the puck up to Marchand on the right wing. In a one-on-one against defenseman Kyle Burroughs, Marchand cut to the inside on his forehand and beat Silovs with a wrister just inside the right post.
But as well as the Bruins played in the first period, They could not put away the Canucks in the second period in which both teams had a couple of power-play opportunities that went for naught. Pavel Zacha came the closest to scoring on the the PP for the Bruins when he whistled a one-timer off the post.
Meanwhile, Ullmark wasn’t overly busy (17 shots through the first two period) but he made the saves he needed to. His best one was on an Anthony Beauvillier shot on a two-on-one.
Allowed to stick around, the Canucks got back in the game with 12:36 left in the third period. Marchand hit the post off the rush and that sent sent the Canucks off on their own rush. When the puck went into the left corner, Orlov chased Conor Garland there but Garland was able to get the puck out front to Brock Boeser, who had beaten Derek Forbort to the spot and he redirected past Ullmark.
That’s as close as they would get, however. Ullmark made sure of it.
The Bruins made a couple of transactions prior to the game. They obtained former Boston University Terrier Shane Bowers from the Colorado Avalanche for Providence goalie Keith Kinkaid, who had been part of a three-man goalie rotation with the P-Bruins with prospects Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser. Bowers, the 28th overall pick of Ottawa in 2017, played just one NHL this year with the Avs. The left shot centerman had his best pro season in 2019-20 when he had 10-17-27 totals in 43 games for the Colorado’s AHL franchise.
Also, the Bruins placed Vinni Lettieri on waivers. He’s been on the Bruins' roster since suffering a lower body injury in practice on Jan. 31 after being called up from Providence.
