Subscribe
Follow Us
Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron had a mouthful to say about Linus Ullmark, not long after the Swedish goaltender committed a painful blunder in a 4-3 Game 5 loss to the Florida Panthers.
Bergeron offered words of support for Ullmark after his game-losing error in overtime as he failed to clear the puck, leading to the Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk's game winning goal.
Despite the blunder, Bergeron is standing firm behind his goalie.
“He’s been a rock for us all year. He can’t be too hard on himself. He’s a tremendous goalie,” he said.
“Probably the best goalie in the league this season. We’re all here for each other.”
Ullmark has a 2.55 goals against average for the Bruins so far in the playoffs, to go with a 3-2 record and a .913 save percentage. Friday's Game 6 in Florida is setting up to be another major challenge for the Bruins.
Bergeron was sidelined by injury for the first four games of the series before Wednesday's bounce-back performance.
Bergeron came to his All-Star goalie's need on a day when Ullmark was destroyed on social media for the costly mistake. Some Bruins fans were so upset that they called for Ullmark to sit out Game 6. They made their case for backup Jeremy Swayman to get the start in Florida.
Patrice Bergeron said it took him a few shifts to get into a rhythm after such a long layoff, but he grew more comfortable as the game went on.
The Bruins can clinch the series with a road win in Game 6, which starts at 7:30 p.m on Friday.
“It was great to be out there of course, there is nothing like playoff hockey,” Bergeron said per The Boston Herald. “To be able to contribute on the ice is satisfying and it was awesome to get back.” The Bruins vastly outplayed and outshot the Panthers 47-25, but costly turnovers once again cost them the game.
Boston incredibly set the record the best record in the history of the NHL this season. But if they want to advance, they will need to take better care of the puck.
