The Boston Bruins’ amazing Linus Ullmark is just two wins away from becoming the first goaltender since Ken Dryden in 1977 to sign a 40-game campaign with fewer than ten losses.
Remember, Dryden ended the 1976–77 season with a record 41 wins, six losses and eight draws. The stalwart advocate had ten brushstrokes while maintaining a .920 save percentage (a then-unpublished stat) and 2.14 goals against average.
Ullmark, who leads our computerized ranking for the 18th straight week, is 38-6-1 with a phenomenal .937 save ratio and 1.90 goals versus average.
Dryden had manned the net for the Canadiens for 56 games. Ullmark, who is in 47 games, is likely to end the season with 49 games played; maybe 50. Since he’ll only be playing two or three games, he can’t afford to lose if he wants to hit that 40-win plateau.
Archive photo
Ken Dryden, 41-6-8/.920/2.14 in 1976-77.
87% consistency
This is where it gets interesting! Dryden’s consistency index (starting at an efficiency of .900 or greater) was 61.8% in 1977, but Ullmark is in a different sphere at 87%. He’s played for .900 in 40 of his 46 starts.
It’s breathtaking!
In fact, only the legendary Jacques Plante has done better (87.5%) in 40 or more starts in all of NHL history, and that was with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970-71 at the age of 42.
But let’s keep our feet on the ground. With the Bruins’ Swede not knowing his true breakout until he was 29, we won’t compare his career to that of Plante and Dryden. It still goes to show just how exceptional what he’s doing this season.
The Vezina and the cut!
In 1977, the Canadian was alone in the race for the Vézina, then the counterpart to today’s Jennings trophy. The Jennings are in the bag for Ullmark and his assistant Jeremy Swayman as they have a 30-goal lead over the Hurricanes’ goalies.
Also in 1977, the Canadian had flown over the NHL with a 132-point crop (60-8-12) and had won the Stanley Cup by suffering just two losses to the New York Islanders in the playoffs. They had defeated both the Blues and the Bruins in the Grand Final.
One thing is for sure, eyes will be on the Bruins and Ullmark in the playoffs, but one question arises. Will coach Jim Montgomery dare to continue the Ullmark-Swayman substitution system? Be continued.
Analytical Statistics
And the icing on the cake. As we have privileged permission to share some micro-stats from Clear Sight Analytics, we add that Ullmark is second in saved goals (31.95). In short, based on the quality of shots received, he should have conceded 120 goals, but he only conceded 88, or 32 better than average. Juuse Saros dominates at 34.35.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is on fire, is third with 28.84. Samuel Montebeault is 15th with 8.38 and Jake Allen is 84th with -5.83. Jonathan Quick closes the parade at -27.65.
Things were going well when he arrived with the Golden Knights, but that’s where things got complicated.
