NHL Insider reveals brutal injury for Linus Ullmark

The Boston Bruins are left picking up the pieces after their shocking exit in Round 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hands of the Florida Panthers, who barely qualified for the postseason and were a whopping 43 points behind in the standings. 

But as they say, the playoffs are a completely different animal. And from the moment the playoffs started for the Bruins, fans and pundits could tell that there was something off about goaltender Linus Ullmark. 

The second year Bruins goaltender boasted sparkling record of 40-6-1 with a 1.89 goals against average, .938 save percentage along with two shutouts, stats that will likely earn him the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best player at the position. Oh, and there was also the matter of his having become the first goalie in the near century-long history of the Bruins to score a goal.

However, his performance against the Panthers was anything but clutch. Not only would he get torched by Florida in Games 2 and 6, but he also committed an egregious turnover in overtime of Game 5 that led directly to Matthew Tkachuk's game winning goal. Head coach Jim Montgomery had seen enough after Friday night, electing to go with Jeremy Swayman for the deciding Game 7 in a move that has been criticized for not taking place sooner. 

And now, according to former NHL goaltender and current analyst Kevin Weekes, Ullmark was playing through a "debilitating" injury that affected his play.

Weekes would write the following on Twitter earlier this afternoon: 

"Like all teams ; players grit it out to play through major injuries in the Playoffs. My sources tell me soon to be Vezina G Ullmark was playing through a debilitating & painful injury that limited his mobility and technique."

This absolutely would explain why Ullmark, who was lights out during the regular season, suddenly looked far more like Swiss cheese in the postseason. Montgomery will be facing some serious scrutiny during the summer as to why he didn't make the switch from Ullmark to Swayman sooner, especially given the fact that Ullmark was apparently dealing with an injury.