Tim Thomas made 31 saves and led the Bruins to a 1-0 shutout win against the Rangers this afternoon. The win clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the Bruins who are 51-17-10 with 112 points. Blake Wheeler scored the game's only goal.
The was marred a bit with roughly five minutes left when (Who else?) New York forward Sean Avery "bumped" Thomas in the back of his head with his stick during a stoppage. As workers were cleaning the ice during a television stoppage, Thomas was in the slot kneeling. Avery skated by him and appeared to intentionally clip Thomas in the back of hte head. Avery turned around and "acted" surprised he made contact. That set off Thomas who went racing after the Rangers agitator. Thomas ended up punching New York forward Fredrik Sjostrom in the face with his blocker. Avery and Thomas each got two minutes for roughing.
New York remains in eighth place with a 40-30-9 record for 89 points, two more than ninth-place Florida. The Rangers have gone 8-6-1 since re-acquiring Avery near the trade dealine.
EN Says: The incident itself probably doesn't merit a suspension. It was more a love tap than anything. But given Avery's prior history, we won't be surprised if the NHL at least examined the possibility of disciplining Avery.
We'll have a video up as soon as one is available.
Regarding the Bruins, their depth is their biggest asset. They have eight players with 20 or more goals and all sorts of role players like P.J. Axelsson and Stephane Yelle who handle their defensive duties so well. And on the blue lines, the Bruins have even more depth with guys like Dennis Wideman, Steve Montador and Andrew Ference complimenting Norris Trophy candidate Zdeno Chara.
The Bruins obviously will be a tough opponent for anyone in the playoffs, but they're not unbeatable. Particularly with Tim Thomas in net. He's played very well this season and is capable of playing spectacularly at times, but we're just not sold on him as a goaltender capable of winning a Stanley Cup.
Update: The video:
Posted
Apr 04 2009, 03:36 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh