Thomas shines as Bruins snap home losing streak

By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent

Photo Courtesy of Flickr - Credit: SlidingSideways

And exhale.

That’s exactly what the sold out crowd of 17,565 in attendance at the TD Garden did Thursday night once Tim Thomas fistpumped after his final save on Toronto’s Jamie Lundmark in the shootout. The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 3-2 in a shootout snapping their ten game winless streak at home, their first W at the Garden in 2010, and it was all because of Tim Thomas.

Let me repeat that. It was all because of Tim Thomas.

“I’m not going to lie, it feels pretty good right now,” said an elated Thomas during a post-game interview.

This was Thomas’ first win, a 24-save effort, since his impressive shootout victory in San Jose on January 14. It was also the former 2008-09 Vezina winner’s first start in goal for the Bruins since February 2 where he suffered a loss against the Washington Capitals. Rookie netminder Tuukka Rask, who started the previous seven games for the B’s, sat out because of a knee injury and is considered day-to-day. However according to Boston bench boss Claude Julien, Thomas was set to start regardless.

“Outstanding,” Julien remarked on Thomas’ performance at his post-game press conference. “For a guy that hadn’t played in a month, for him to come in and do the job he did tonight, we needed him. There’s no doubt. He deserves a lot of credit for this win tonight.”

The only errors on Thomas’ record were two goals, a 4-on-4 shot wide by Viktor Stalberg in the first period and a tip-in from Tyler Bozak in the third to tie the game.

Most importantly, Thomas was able to stop all of Phil Kessel’s four shots on goal, including a late-game breakaway and a shootout attempt, much to pleasure of fans still miffed by the Kessel trade made in the offseason. Kessel is easily turning into the Bruins fans’ version of Johnny Damon. With a hint of Adam Vinatieri.

“Over the past two weeks [at the Winter Olympics], I probably took 400 breakaways after practice and forty of them were against Phil,” said Thomas. “I didn’t know exactly where he was going to shoot, because he can shoot anywhere. He can shoot a low-blocker, high-glove, five-hole. I was just trying to do the best I could I and I was fortunate enough to be the one that ended up on top today.”

Strange, too, to see a shootout end with the only goal coming from a #81 in Boston again. Miroslav Satan was able to put away the victory for Boston in the final round of the shootout as well as having the first goal of the game, his 4th of the season.

“That’s what we need, said Julien. “You need somebody who at some point is going to come up big for you and Miro is that for us offensively.”

Make no mistake, that Thursday’s game was not by any means an impressive showing for the Bruins. The team still has much to work on but there were no doubt bright spots that shone through. For one, Johnny Boychuk returned after missing five games since February 6 with a broken orbital bone in his face. Boychuk scored the second goal of the game for Boston, his third of the year. The scar was clearly visible on the rookie’s face who was sporting a visor.

Marc Savard seemed to be missing a step Thursday, missing various connections on passes. His biggest blunder came in the third period when he missed a wide open net, a goal that could have put the Bruins ahead late in the third.

Thomas may have regained confidence from the fans and for himself to retreat to how he is used to playing. Credit Claude Julien for his friendly reminder.

“I told him, ‘You’re a Vezina Trophy winner,’” said Julien to Thomas before Thursday’s start. ”‘You don’t go from being a great goaltender to being a bad goaltender. ‘The whole organization here—your teammates, your coaching staff, upper management—we all believe in you. You just have to go out there and have fun playing again and doing the job that you’ve always done.”’

Only time will tell if last season’s Tim Thomas has returned.

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