Thomas returns with a bang, Kessel no match

There were two significant dates for Tim Thomas as he entered his first game in what seems lifetime against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Jan. 14 was the last time that Thomas got a win for the Boston Bruins and Feb. 2 was the last start. So with a little over a month between starts Thomas wanted to prove that his team could still depend on the 2009 Vezina winner.

After not making a move at the deadline the Bruins wanted to make sure the Leafs don’t gain any ground in the standings to ensure a lottery pick for the Bruins. Thomas came to play as he kept the Bruins in the game and eventually got the win in the shootout.

After a Michael Ryder goal was disallowed only two minutes in to the game, the Bruins maintained pressure on J.S. Giguere and quickly got their goal back on Miro Satan’s fourth goal of the season. Leafs forward Viktor Stalberg, who led the Leafs in goals in the preseason, showed some talent beating Thomas to tie the game in the first.

The Bruins were able to take the lead in the second on a Johnny Boychuk slapshot from the point. However, the Leafs were able to rebound in the third and tied the game up with a tip in goal from Tyler Bozak, newly acquired Luca Caputi factored in an assist for his first Leaf point.

After a scoreless overtime the game moved in to a shootout where Satan was able to net the win for the Bruins on a lovely dangle beating Giggy. It seems to be a trend for the Bruins to allow their goal scorers to have a chance in the shootout and it seems like it is a system that works.

The win moved the Bruins back to 7^th in the Eastern Conference, just one point ahead of the Atlanta Thrashers, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens.

It was another struggle some night for ex Bruin Phil Kessel. Kessel had numerous chances for the Leafs but his ex Bruins and Team USA teammate Thomas was up to the task stopping him on four shots, including a breakaway and shootout save.

This was a big win for the Bruins who are coming off a post Olympic loss to the Habs. It is going to be a battle for the final few playoff positions. They have to continue to play strong defence and work on getting and holding on to their leads. Marco Sturm leads the team with 19 goals on the season and he will strongly be leaned on for continued production. Dennis Seidenberg, who was acquired at the deadline, played 20 minutes and had two shots on goal. He had a good first game for the Bruins.

It was really good to see Thomas get the start against the Leafs. If the Bruins plan on making any impact in the playoffs they will need to heavily depend on their goaltending and defence. Although Tuukka Rask has been phenomenal in his first full NHL season, Thomas has the experience that the Bruins really could use right now.  Rask is currently day-to-day with a knee injury which had the Bruins call up Danny Sabourin to hold down the spot while Rask heals up.

The Bruins will now head to Long Island to play the New York Islanders on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Isles are 13^th in the conference but are only six points from eighth. It should be a good game and I expect to see Thomas get the nod once again.

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