Ullmark, Pastrnak help Bruins hand Coyotes fourth straight loss

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Linus Ullmark made 30 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Friday.

The Bruins won their 17th in a row against the Coyotes. Arizona hasn't defeated Boston since Oct. 9, 2010, in Prague.
"I thought we came out pretty well," Ullmark said. "We were skating, we were doing good things, we got the first goal. There's no guaranteed wins in this league. You've got to fight a little, play a 60-minute game."
David Pastrnak had two assists, and Erik Haula and Charlie McAvoy scored for the Bruins (25-13-3), who are 11-3-1 in their past 15 games and 10-1-2 in their past 13 road games.
"It was a good defensive game for us," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "All in all, I think we're trending in the right direction. The second half [of the season] is when you want to be playing your best hockey, and hopefully that's the case with us."

Nick Schmaltz scored his third goal in two games, and Scott Wedgewood made 35 saves for the Coyotes (10-28-4), who lost their fourth in a row and sixth in eight games (2-5-1).
"We needed one bounce, one shot, but it didn't happen that way," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "But I think we did a lot of positive things in that game and we stayed with it."
Ullmark is 8-0-1 in January. He wasn't expected to start, but Tuukka Rask is day to day with a lower-body injury that was disclosed following the morning skate.
"The biggest thing we always look for with goaltending is timely saves, trying not to let any kind of soft ones in and … really, really limiting second chances," Cassidy said. "Make that key first stop. And he was able to do a lot of that tonight."
Pastrnak pulled two defenders to him while skating toward the net before making a backhand pass to Haula for a wrist shot from the low slot, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 12:31 of the first period. Pastrnak has scored 13 points (seven goals, six assists) during an eight-game point streak.
Schmaltz tied it 1-1 at 18:04 with a one-timer from the lower left face-off circle off Shayne Gostisbehere's seam pass.

McAvoy's tumbling wrist shot from the right face-off circle eluded Wedgewood inside the far post on a Bruins power play to make it 2-1 at 13:41 of the second period. Boston's power play has scored in eight consecutive games (10-for-25, 40.0 percent).
"We said before the game they're obviously good on special teams, so don't get their big boys going on special teams. I think we limited their chances," Gostisbehere said. "If one or two bounces goes our way, it's a different game."
The Bruins couldn't score despite getting two power plays 15 seconds apart early in the third period.
"We had some puck luck as well. They could easily have dropped in one or two goals, but they didn't," Ullmark said. "We've got to keep building off from this game."
The Bruins were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, when they couldn't hold a 3-1 lead in the third period.
"I thought we did a good job, it's nice to close this one out compared to what we didn't do in Colorado," Ullmark said.
Ullmark made two strong saves in the final minute after the Coyotes pulled Wedgewood to give them an extra attacker. He stopped a wrist shot by Clayton Keller with 36 seconds left and kicked out a wrist shot by Lawson Crouse with one second remaining.
"I think we played good in the third, we gave them a push, they sat back a little and trapped it up," Gostisbehere said. "We had a good chance there at the end.
NOTES: Arizona forward Johan Larsson sat out with a lower-body injury and is day to day. … Schmaltz has scored five points (three goals, two assists) in his past three games. … Wedgewood is 1-8-1 in his past 10 starts and hasn't won since Dec. 17 against the Anaheim Ducks. … Boston hasn't lost at Arizona since Oct. 17, 2009. … The Coyotes play the second of back-to-back games against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. … Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk blocked two shots in 18:04 after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. … Coyotes forwards Antoine Roussel and Ryan Dzingel returned after each missed four games in NHL COVID-19 protocol. Roussel had four hits in 9:59 and Dzingel had two shots and four hits in 11:39. ... Boston recalled goalie Troy Grosenick from the taxi squad and he was the backup to Ullmark.