Ex-Bruins Goalie Helping Sens Try To Give Maple Leafs Latest Heartbreak

It looked like the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Bruins out of their playoff hair for a year, were ready to make a statement early in their latest quest for the Stanley Cup.

Not so fast.

Toronto jumped out to a comfortable 3-1 lead over Ottawa in their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series, but that comfort is fleeting. That’s thanks in part to a former Bruins fan favorite.

Former B’s goalie Linus Ullmark, who has an otherwise checkered postseason past, turned in the best game of his playoff career Tuesday night. Ullmark posted his first career playoff shutout as the Senators cruised to a 4-0 win in Toronto. The win sent the series back to Ottawa, where the Sens can force Game 7 with a win.

Ullmark needed to come alive. He allowed at least three goals in each of the first four games in the series, posting an unsightly .815 save percentage through the first three tilts. While he gave up three goals in Game 4, he was better, stopping 31 of 34 shots in an overtime win to avoid the sweep.

He was dialed in Wednesday, stopping all 29 shots that came his way, while the Senators played easily their best game of the series.

“Not surprising. I feel like I’ve been talking about Linus a lot this series, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him and rightfully so,” Ottawa head coach Travis Green told reporters, per NHL.com. “He was sharp again tonight.”

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk also called Ullmark “our best player” for his efforts.

This isn’t unfamiliar territory for Toronto. The Leafs held a 3-2 series lead over Tampa Bay in 2022 before the Lightning won Games 6 and 7 to take the first-round series. The year before that, the Leafs led the hated Montreal Canadiens 3-1 and then lost Game 5 in overtime, which sparked three straight Habs wins. In 2019, the Leafs had the Bruins on the ropes after a Game 5 win, only to lose at home in Game 6 and get run out of TD Garden in Game 7.

And any discussion of Toronto playoff misery — especially with any Boston connection — can’t be had without mentioning 2013 when the Leafs led 4-1 late in Game 7 before the Bruins stormed back for one of the most historic wins in franchise history.

Ullmark, of course, has seen it up close before. He was with the Bruins last season when Boston almost lost a 3-1 series lead of its own before a dramatic Game 7 win at the Garden.

Ullmark and the Senators have to be hoping the Leafs are feeling the pressure now, too. Toronto hasn’t exactly dominated the series — two of its wins came in overtime. Now, with the series going back to Canada’s capital, the Senators have momentum on their side.

Game 6 is Thursday night.