Bruins fans tracking Linus Ullmark got a glimpse of playoff heartbreak Saturday, as Ottawa thought it had tied Game 1 in Carolina before review wiped it out.

The goal that wasn't left the former Boston netminder staring down another uphill climb on the road.

Brady Tkachuk pointed at the ice. The on-ice ruling was a goal. Toronto overturned it. The puck never fully crossed the line.

Ullmark was traded to Ottawa in the summer of 2024 in exchange for Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic, and a 2024 first-round pick. This is his first postseason appearance since that trade.

Three shutouts. A workload that's ramped up late. This is the version of Ullmark the Bruins saw win a Vezina before the front office moved on.

Ullmark's first playoff start away from Boston just got complicated

This is why Boston moved him. Not because of the regular-season numbers. Because the postseason jury stayed out. Ottawa is the stage where he gets to rewrite that page.

And the first chapter just opened with a gut punch.

The Senators finished 44-27-11 with 99 points, a distant second fiddle to a 113-point Hurricanes team that feasts on clean zone entries and quick breakouts. Ottawa went 1-2 against Carolina in the regular season.

Ullmark's numbers against that forecheck will be watched closely on Causeway Street. Every goal. Every rebound. Every glove save.

Bruins fans know what this goaltender can do on a heater. They also know how fragile the margin gets when the team in front of him starts bleeding chances.

Travis Green's group has already lost Artem Zub to a leg issue in this game. That's a top-four defenseman pulled from a blue line that was already missing Nick Jensen for the year. Ullmark is going to see rubber.

Did Boston sell too early on him? Ask again in two weeks.

Game 2 is Monday back in Raleigh. If Ullmark can steal one on the road, the narrative flips fast. If he can't, the Vezina conversation from his Boston days starts feeling like a very long time ago.

Either way, the Bruins fan base is watching. The goalie they let walk is playing his biggest hockey in two years, and the first 60 minutes gave us nothing resembling an answer yet.