Ullmark makes 40 saves, Bruins edge Senators for 4th straight victory

BOSTON -- Linus Ullmark made 40 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden on Tuesday.

Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci scored, and Hampus Lindholm had two assists for Boston (54-11-5), which has won four in a row.
Ullmark leads the NHL with 35 wins.
"[Ullmark] was outstanding, and he needed to be," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "Unfortunately, we gave up a lot of good looks, a lot of odd-man rushes because of our [lack] of puck management, and he bailed us out like he has all year."

The Bruins, the first team to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to 20 points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs. With 12 games remaining, Boston is eight away from matching the NHL record for wins in a season (62), held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7) and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning (62-16-4).
Dylan Gambrell scored, and Mads Sogaard made 33 saves for Ottawa (34-32-5), which is 1-5-1 in its past seven games.
The Senators are six points behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They are also five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and one behind the Washington Capitals in the wild card race.
After having 37 shots on goal through two periods, Ottawa only generated three in the third period.
"[The Bruins are] not gonna give you anything. You're gonna have to earn it," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "For a back to back, we can't play any harder, but the third period, I thought we wanted to generate a little bit more but give them credit. They don't give you anything."

Gambrell gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 8:55 of the first period, retrieving a dump-in behind the net and wrapping it around the left post.
"We knew it was going to be a hard task, and I think we came in and pitched a really good game," Senators defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "It's unfortunate we don't get the result, but it was a good, solid effort [throughout] our lineup."
Krejci tied it 1-1 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 11:33, putting in the rebound of Lindholm's point shot.
"'[Patrice Bergeron] gave me a good little flash screen, and I knew he's good with his stick," Lindholm said. "If you get a shot from the slot like that, you kind of want to take it, so I end up ripping it in, and great job by 'Bergy' and [Krejci going] in there and crashing the net."
DeBrusk gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 15:52. Brad Marchand connected a cross-ice pass between two defenders to DeBrusk, who deked around Sogaard to push the puck through at net front.
"It was one of those passes where it was just all-world, and I was happy to finish it for him," DeBrusk said. "I just didn't even think; it was instinct. The pass comes, the pass has gotta make it there, and once it does, it's a split-second decision, and I just thought I could beat [Sogaard] with my speed."

The Senators got a power play at 17:55 of the third period when Charlie Coyle was called for holding but couldn't convert.
"You're competing against probably the best team in the League right now, and you're that close," Sogaard said. "So, you just want to get it to overtime, get a point and then see what happens from there. [It's] frustrating for sure, but I thought as a group, we played a really hard hockey game today."
NOTES: The teams combined for 36 shots on goal in the second period (21-15 Ottawa) ... Montgomery (54 wins) trails Mike Babcock (58 wins with the 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings) and Tom Johnson (57 with the 1970-71 Bruins) for most wins in a season by a coach in his first season with a team. … It was Lindholm's eighth multiassist game this season.