Thomas Shines as Bruins Outlast Toronto 3-2

It seems even when the Bruins don’t bring their ‘A’ game, they still find a way to win.

Boston outlasted the Maple Leafs last night in Toronto, edging their Northeast division rival 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd at the Molson Centre. The Leafs controlled the play for much of the game, but Boston capitalized on two first period goals and strong goaltending once again from Tim Thomas to gain the two points. 

Phil Kessel opened the scoring for the Bruins, taking a nifty indirect pass from Marc Savard and rifling a shot through Toronto goaltender Ves Toskala’s five-hole to give Boston the early 1-0 lead. The tally was Kessel’s team-leading 8th of the season, but just his 2nd in the last 12 games. 

Minutes later, the Savard-Kessel-Milan Lucic line would strike again. Savard gained control of the puck in the corner and found Lucic at the right faceoff circle. The big winger bided his time, allowing defenseman Matt Hunwick to jump into the play where Lucic found him in the slot. The rookie blueliner fired a shot on goal which was stopped by Toskala, but Hunwick wasted no time in jumping on the loose rebound and putting it past Toskala to give Boston a 2-0 lead 13:18 into the frame.

Toronto would respond late in the 1st, as Jason Blake capitalized on a pass from Ian White, roofing a shot past Thomas from a tough angle with 2:09 left to play in the period. 

The Leafs would continue to carry the play throughout the second, but were continually turned away by Thomas, who was outstanding once again for Boston. 

As Toronto continued applying heavy pressure, Michael Ryder hopped on a turnover in the neutral zone, sktaed into the Maple Leafs zone, made a nifty toe-drag and roofed a laser past Toskala to give Boston a 3-1 lead and deflate all the energy out of the 19,410 in attendance.

The Leafs wouldn’t go quietly however, as Mikhail Grabovski banged a rebound past Thomas after an impressive rush by linemate Niklas Hagman. The tally, Grabovski’s league-leading 8th goal of the month, put Toronto back within one goal at 3-2, but Thomas and the defense would hold the fort for the rest of the game, surviving a flurry of attempts in the waning seconds to secure their 11th victory of the season. With the loss, Toronto falls to 7-8-4. The Northeast division leading Bruins improve to 11-3-4.

Boston travels to Buffalo on Wednesday to take on the Sabres. The puck drops at 7:00 pm, with coverage beginning at 6:30 pm on NESN.

Inside the Game

• Toronto outshot Boston 30-22 in the game, including 9-4 in the 3rd period. 
• Tim Thomas turned away 28-30 shots for a .933 save percentage.
• Phil Kessel was easily Boston’s best forward on the night, notching a goal on a team-high 4 shots in 15:09 TOI.
• Mark Stuart saw his ice time increase to 17:10, and the defenseman responded by posting a team-high +2 rating.

Stud of the Game

Tim Thomas (BOS) - At this rate, Thomas should be a shoe-in for the Vezina trophy come June. The netminder made several key stops on the night, and was helped out twice by the posts. Without Thomas, it’s scary to think where this club would be.

Dud of the Game

Vesa Toskala (TOR) - Toronto has an impressive offense and a solid defense, but their atrocious goaltending thus far has hindered them considerably. Toskala’s numbers are ugly on the whole, and last night his play was no different. The goal he surrendered to Kessel was a soft one by any measurement, and his knack for giving up juicy rebounds led to the Hunwick strike as well. If Thomas has helped put Boston at the front of the pack, Toskala has done nothing of the sort for Toronto. Expect changes in Leaf-land if things don’t change, and soon.

Tags: Bruins, Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel, Tim Thomas, Toronto Maple Leafs

© 2008 Sports of Boston, LLC.