THN.com/podcast. From THN American Pipeline: Massive Weekends and Blues Prospects Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2MTQ3NTM4NDM1MjUzNzY1/usatsi_20090874.jpg] In the midst of a dominant season that has him challenging for the Vezina Trophy, Boston Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark took the NHL lead in yet another category on Saturday. The 29-year-old became the first goaltender in more than three years to score a goal when he launched a puck all the way down the ice and into the Vancouver Canucks' empty net with 48 seconds left to play in regulation. The Bruins were leading 2-1, and the Canucks had an extra attacker on the ice when Ullmark collected a dump-in and lofted the puck over both teams' skaters into the Vancouver zone. It slid right into the middle of the net. "It's really hard to describe what I'm feeling right now," a beaming Ullmark told reporters after the game. "I have to digest it all. I'm just so bloody happy." Ullmark said he has never scored before at any level. The closest he came was hitting the post when playing junior in Sweden. "But that was a bad try," he said. "It's one of the dreams that I always had, I wanted to score a goal." Some coaches discourage their goalies from shooting when their team is holding only a one-goal lead. But Boston coach Jim Montgomery has no such rule. "We try to end games," Montgomery said. "That's our mentality. It takes as much skill to chip a puck out just past the red line as it does to fire a puck from your own end into an empty net. That's the way we look at it. "And we're pretty good faceoff team," he added. The Bruins won 65 percent of their draws against Vancouver on Saturday, with the unstoppable Patrice Bergeron going 14-for-19 in the circle. For a moment, Ullmark thought the play may have gone sideways. "I thought it went in my own net at first," he said. "As soon as I shot it, I see three guys jumping towards me, and I had no idea where it was." But he was also fairly confident that a contingency plan was in place. "Even if I missed, I thought I saw 'Pasta' (David Pastrnak) up high, so he could get it and put it in as well. He read that perfectly, in case I missed." Defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who opened Saturday's scoring with a power-play goal in the first period, had never seen anything like it. "That's a football field goal right there," he said. "Fun to see. Fun for him." Ullmark is known for his exuberant post-win celebrations with partner Jeremy Swayman. Saturday's hug went to the next level. Ullmark said he wasn't sure which teammate prompted him to head to the bench to go through the celebration line. He's the 13th goalie [https://www.nhl.com/stats/goalies?aggregate=0&reportType=game&dateFrom=1917-12-19&dateTo=2023-04-14&gameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&filter=goals,gte,1&sort=wins,savePct&page=0&pageSize=50] to get credit for an NHL goal, but only the ninth to do so by shooting the puck into the opponents' net rather than getting credit due to an own goal. Martin Brodeur is the reigning record holder with three goals, two in the regular season and one in playoffs, while Ron Hextall had one in the regular season and one in the playoffs. Before Saturday, the most recent goalie goal came off the stick of Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators on Jan. 9, 2020, at the United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks. Saturday's goal is the first ever for a Bruins netminder and the second to be scored against the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Evgeni Nabokov tallied for the San Jose Sharks on March 10, 2002. Ullmark's goal comes in the midst of the best season of his career. He has never received a top-three vote for the Vezina Trophy, but this year, he's leading all goalies with more than 15 games played in save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.86). Saturday's win also made him the first goalie to hit the 30-win mark this season. "Has been surprising us all year," said Lindholm. "He's been stellar back there." Earlier this season, another goalie in the Bruins organization scored in the ECHL. Francois Brassard [https://thehockeynews.com/news/hockey-things-what-caught-our-eye-dec-19]was the first Maine Mariners goaltender to ever accomplish the feat, leaving the AHL's Providence Bruins as the only club in the organization without a goalie goal this season. Talk about unfair expectations. Meanwhile, the Bruins are now up to 95 points in 58 games — a .819 points percentage. They're on pace for 134 points, which would surpass the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for the most points all-time in an NHL season. They had 132 points in an 80-game campaign. Saturday's game also marked the Boston debuts for defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway, who were acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals on Thursday. Montgomery was pleased with both players' first games. "Really impressed with Hathaway's details and penalty killing, and it seems like he understands our D-zone coverage already," he said. "And Orlov made some special plays, special passes on breakouts, in the neutral zone and in the offensive zone." One year after he was Boston's big trade-deadline acquisition, Lindholm was empathetic to the challenges his new teammates have dealt with in the past 48 hours. "I thought they played great," he said. "It's tough, flying and playing like that — an early game too, no morning skate. So, super impressed with both of them." After kicking off their western road swing with a wild 6-5 win in Seattle on Thursday, the Bruins now head to Alberta, where they'll face the Edmonton Oilers on Monday and the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
